Prometheus
by tenamanda1988
Summary: Sparda isn't dead, and manages to escape from Hell. A little too late, but early enough to save one of his family. Unfortunately, years later he must deal with the consqequences of the one he didn't save.
1. Prometheus

He ran like a fox from the hounds, muscles trembling with exhaustion, but he ran not for his own survival, but for theirs.

Years of bondage and torture had dulled his senses and wit, being kept like an animal against a rock, letting the fell creatures of the underworld pick at his flesh as the eagle had daily devoured Prometheus' liver.

Prometheus had given mankind fire. He had given them their lives.

Heracles had not come to free him though.

The insipid whispers of Mundus against his enemies ear, gentle as a lovers, telling of how he had finally found the great Knights family. How he had sent his agents to devour their flesh and bones and rape their souls until there was nothing left had woken him from his pain induced stupor. Sharpened his mind once more.

Somehow, weak and bloody he had broken the bonds that had kept him tied at the beginning. _He's letting you go, another means of torture._ his mind pointed out, that part of him coldly logical in the face of his overwhelming emotions and fear.

The fact that freedom from hell did not come without battle and strife reassured him a little, but always there was the thought that it might just be too easy.

Never mind it, never mind if this was another way to cause him pain, to let him see his families slaughter. He had to go, had to defy Mundus again, he would win out, save them and be with them. Feel Eva's kiss and stroke his nestlings hair.

He was drawn, knowing the path. One of his old homes, of course. Eva would have the sense to keep them moving.

He crested the entrance to the valley and looked down, willing himself not to fall.

Smoke pluming. Wicked tongues of flame. Smell of cooking flesh in his nostrils.

NO! Too late, too late!

Adrenaline coursed and he forgot his weariness, sprinting down the path, black freckles eating at his vision and human form blurring as he rushed forward.

She couldn't have fallen, not his strong wife, not his proud Valkyrie. She wouldn't leave their nestlings, their children alone, she wouldn't let them be killed and how he knew she wouldn't die until she got to hurt him for failing them and being away for so long.

He sensed no demons, he prayed it was their flesh that burned. That she had been victorious and was now fleeing with Dante and Vergil. Yes, then he could track them down and they'd be together again.

But he knew the scent of demon flesh, and it was tender human that he breathed in now amongst the stone and timber.

In front of the funeral pyre that had been one their favourite villa's he fell to his knees, screaming in agony and rage and the horrible feeling of helplessness he wallowed in his newfound misery. So much worse than the pain of being bound and devoured.

Before he'd been able to hide in the dreams that they at least were safe but it was all gone. Reality reared its ugly head and sought to tear him asunder.

They were all gone.

No more streaming golden hair, sharp tongue and loving embrace. No more twin smiles clothed in blue and red. They had been so small when he had left for that last time.

He cursed that devils could not know the sweet release of sorrow into tears. Primitive howling all he could do to express his pain. Ripping up the earth between his hands and wishing that he were dead himself.

What Mundus wanted, what he had probably wanted from the moment he whispered in the knights ear.

Mundus.

This time there would be no respite for the dark Lord, only death.

Crack.

He whipped his head around, silver hair limp around his face, growing steadily pewter dark as soot fell from the air.

A small trembling form, gazing at him with big blue eyes through a veil of silver hair so identical to his own, clutching a too large sword to his chest like it was a security blanket as he gazed in mild horror at the stick his foot had broken. It couldn't…

He rose slowly, advancing carefully towards the nestling, his. One of his, "Thank you…" he whispered hoarsely to no one and everyone. Carefully he proceeded, soft noises of comfort for him and his young, watching as the boy almost skittered back into the dark shadows of the trees from whence he'd came.

Familial instinct, it drew the child to him, his child who couldn't possibly remember his father. Or could he? Eva had photos after all. He winced at the thought of her, finally reaching his nestling and opening his arms, the boy surging forward to press against him.

He drank in his scent, his warmth and comfort. The first he had known in so long, felt the nestling as he took the love he needed from his sire's arms. He felt with envy the moisture now soaking into his chest.

"Its alright…" he whispered, "Its alright… you're safe now."

Mundus had failed, he and his child survived.

Sparda swore that together they would take revenge for the mother and wife, twin and son who had been lost.

Together.

---

A drabble that demanded to be longer. XD Just an AU, I like to think that Sparda might just be captured somewhere and will one day come back to kick ass, ah well.

I was deliberately ambiguous about the ending, its up to you guys to decide whether it was Dante or Vergil he found. I might do a sequel once I decide who it was for myself, lemme know what you think. :3


	2. Reunion

After he passed his first century time became an irrelevant thing for him, decades could pass like seconds to an immortal devil, like a heartbeat.

The past ten years however, had seemed like a long slow crawl uphill, dragging Everest behind him.

Ten years ago, he, Sparda, legendary dark knight and saviour of mankind had walked away from the burning remains of his life and family, the only survivor of his brood trotting at his heels. Despite his pain he'd hoped so much to be able to move onto a brighter future with Dante, that they might conquer grief together.

It was a long time to live with guilt though, and the added resentment from a son who believed you should have been there. That you never should have left in the first place even if it wasn't your fault really.

Dante eagerly accepted his comfort, protection and wisdom as a child, but like so many human teenagers that he'd seen resentment bubbled up once he hit adolescence. He bitterly remembered the first time Dante snarled at him, defied him and if it wasn't for the Byzantine laws of demons, that might was right, then he feared the child wouldn't have backed down.

He didn't want to command Dante's loyalty and love only through shows of higher power.

He knew Dante didn't really blame him, he'd said that himself. But when the memories bubbled p he seemed the easiest target besides the demons themselves for Dante to target his frustration at.

He'd grown so fast, Sparda knew that with the human blood in him Dante would differ from demon development. Still he'd been unprepared to deal with a son who wanted to go out and fight and do all the things human teenagers did besides when a normal demon nestling would still be happily ensconced in the nest under their parents protection for many more years to come.

Perhaps he allowed him too much freedom. He'd never been a parent before, and he'd had so little time with his brood before Mundus defeated him. He sometimes didn't know how to handle his turbulent offspring, Matier had been able to help a little so far as nature and development went but the emotional side, ah, there was a puzzle for every parent.

Sometimes when Dante looked at him he saw his beloved wife's face and surrendered far too easily.

It was so lonely without Eva. She would have been so much better at all of this, but then if she was here he imagined there would be little of the problem left to begin with.

From upstairs Sparda heard the echoes of Dante's heavy metal spewing from his room, down to his study and beyond.

Training sessions and exterminating demons brought them together, as did friendly banter but he and Dante sometimes seemed to be entirely different souls. The subject of the dead mother and twin, the pain that they both nourished inside themselves and needed the most comfort from, that was the pain they couldn't share with each other. It was what drove them apart.

He reached up to fix his monocle slightly, looking down at the ancient scripture in his hands but not seeing the words.

He was so much like his mother.

"Eva… I wish you were here."

----

Dante threw back his head to the scarlet of his ceiling, fingers ripping another chord from the abused guitar. A mortal instrument, hard pressed to cope with the power running through a half-devils fingers, the torrent of emotion they called forth had broken six strings already this month.

The cd player in the corner spewed forth Metallica's 'Some Kind of Monster' at an inappropriate level, it was amazing Dante could hear himself as he tried to follow the guitar riffs. He was bored with a capital 'B', and trying to annoy his old man enough that he'd come tell him to turn it down didn't seem to be working.

Maybe Sparda had invested in soundproofing, or not, they hardly seemed to spend enough time anywhere for major building work to take place. Every few months since… since he'd met his father they seemed to move from one house to another. Sparda was easily able to accommodate this with the vast wealth he'd accumulated over the years.

All because of Mundus, Dante had learned about him quickly when he first started roaming with his father. Sparda had drilled the then child's mind with the tales of the dark lord and his power, instilling caution in him as well as teaching him how to use his sword. An area of combat his mother had lacked in.

He'd been surprised that he was allowed to still keep and use Rebellion, leaving his father weaponless, but Sparda had insisted that the sword was a gift to him and would not take it back. He'd soon got a Devil Arm sword from one of the many demons who sought them out, carrying with them Mundus' wrath that Sparda hadn't been broken and ruined. That Dante had managed to survive the attack at all.

Dante knew that the constant moving was a safety measure, his mother had done the same thing. But then he'd had Vergil to play with and talk to, a single child now it just left him feeling oddly detached from the world. He didn't have any real friends, just a few acquaintances. Most of his energy was put into devil hunting with his father or his music.

He should be a rock star, he'd decided that within a few weeks of picking up his first guitar, when he'd first strummed a few chords of the first song he wrote. He'd known then he could wow any crowd, enchant anyone with his voice. Except he had Devil blood in him, which apparently didn't go well with any major public career.

He pushed himself up and looked outside at the darkening sky, screw it. He'd just run out and find the nearest bar to hang out in. he needed the distraction with all the weird dreams he'd been having, which were nothing new but lately they were just taking the piss.

Something about a library and some freaky bald guy with mismatched eyes. They were talking about something, but he could never remember what it was when he woke, it was almost like he was watching television with the sound turned down low.

Grabbing his red trench off its hook by the door he holstered the twin handguns Ebony and Ivory which sat on his dresser before walking to the window, no need to take rebellion with him now, his girls could handle any trouble around here. Flinging it open he leaped the three stories to the ground and strode off along the path, whistling as he went.

The thought that he'd left his stereo on didn't even cross his mind.

----

"They're here." Vergil's voice said almost breathlessly, reverentially as he gazed at the house ahead of him.

A short distance away Arkham watched, trying to restrain the frown that continually crept across his ruined features. For some reason he didn't seem happy about Vergil's plan to approach his father, but it wasn't as if he had to come along. The man had a habit of following the half-devil like a lost puppy if he was allowed, otherwise known as not being threatened with the business end of Yamato to stay away.

It was somewhat unnerving at times.

On his back Yamato thrummed softly, picking up on the power of its former master's presence as Vergil could now sense Dante's. His dear younger brother he thought with slight bitterness, disappearing off into the night somewhere. Perfect really, he didn't want to see him just yet. Even if he held the key to achieving his goal, that was an encounter for another time.

"Are you certain you wish to do this?" Arkham said smoothly, "After all, Sparda did leave you to struggle on alone all these years."

"Yes I'm sure Arkham," he answered icily, "Don't think I don't know what I'm doing." he left no room for argument, casting a glare back over his shoulder at the demonologist before striding forward, jumping the fence around the house easily and heading for the window of his brothers room. If he knew what was good for his internal organs Arkham would stay far away from this.

As he walked though he felt his calm outward façade threatening to crumble, as he stood underneath his brothers window, looking up at the warm light spilling out alongside that detestable music he found that his heart was starting to pound as it hadn't for years. He'd exerted a supreme amount of effort and willpower over the years to learn to control his emotions, so that nothing would show or betray his thoughts and feelings unless he wished it.

He bit his lip, odd how this was what caused him to feel fear and uncertainty when he could face the worst of demons with barely a drop of concern for his safety.

For years he'd hunted down every scrap of information he could find on his father. As a lone, bloodied child he'd soon been picked up by police and given over to a foster family. He'd given them no more of his affection than necessary to the point where they'd even tried taking the silent cold child to a psychologist, fearing he had some deep emotional disorder. He'd taken what he needed from them before leaving at the age of thirteen to pursue his desires.

He'd recovered Yamato from where he'd stowed it away safely in a tomb inside the nearby graveyard, knowing no sane adult would let an eight-year-old child hang onto a deadly weapon. Every year of his life afterwards was spent training, researching. Trawling through the forgotten corners of libraries, musty bookshops and ancient buried temples long lost by the human world. Through the study of ancient texts he had learned of his family and heritage, his admiration and desire to be like his father steadily moving past the child's infatuation into a teenagers obsession.

He'd put his heart and soul into it. But then, a year ago he had met Arkham and his world had been drastically changed.

"_What did you say?" he said incredulously, staring at the man he had taken as nothing more than a fan boy with some cheap tricks up his sleeve._

"_Your father, the great Sparda, lives. As does your brother." Arkham repeated, his eyes trained on Vergil's face._

_His hands clenched, and for one split second that mask cracked, shock, pain, loneliness flashed across his visage in one fell swoop before they were lost yet again behind that stern countenance. "Where?" he whispered hoarsely, demandingly._

"_I'm afraid I don't know for sure, they're hard to keep track of. They move incessantly, mainly through Europe."_

"_Europe." he repeated, an entire ocean away. All this time… all this time they'd been alive! Father and Dante, together. Had he even tried to look for him? Anger welled up, boiling hot whilst the part of him that was still a child cried in fear that he was unwanted, unloved by the father he idealised. That he had been abandoned in favour of his younger twin, just like mother had…_

_No! He would not allow himself to think this way! It was a mistake, it had to be, that was all. Maybe he'd looked and hadn't been able to find him or-_

"_Come." Arkham broke him off his train of thought, "Let me tell you a story of the ancient world. That of a tower your father sealed away two millenia ago."_

_Vergil stared at a nearby shelf, tracing a finger along the spine of a tome, trying to look unconcerned. "Say what you want." he said with a derisive snort, "I'll decide whether its worth listening to your prattle or not." Truthfully, any distraction was welcome from this unsettling revelation and the spiral of consciousness it inevitably called forth._

_They were alive, they were alive. All this time._

_Behind him, unseen, Arkham gave the tiniest smirk of triumphant pleasure._

He shook himself free of memories, focusing on the windowsill and leaping upwards, disappearing into his brothers room. A moment later, the music stopped.

---

Meanwhile Arkham glowered at the fence that little while longer. This could ruin every carefully laid plot, if the two should connect then all might be lost. He dared not interfere directly with Sparda himself right now, he had to hope that things would go badly and that later he could twist what Vergil learned to his purpose.

If it wasn't for the fact that the second half of the key to Temen-Ni-Gru lay around the younger twins neck… well, things would be so much simpler.

---

Inside his study Sparda momentarily lifted his eyes to the ceiling as Dante's music cut off. Strange.

The tiniest of frowns marred his features before he placed the parchment down on the desk, his sharp ears picking up on the sound of steady footfalls approaching the door. Dante was rarely so sedate, filled with a rambunctious energy that meant he was almost never still for long unless he was sleeping. Even then he would toss and turn, twisting the blankets tightly around himself and flinging his pillows into the corners of his room.

But the scent, it was Dante's surely.

Something was making the hairs on the back of his neck tingle though, he let his hand slide down to finger the hilt of Shadowreaper, the Devil Arm he'd gained to replace the swords he'd lost. A competent blade of darkness that served him well.

Perhaps he was just paranoid in his old age.

The handle turned after a brief pause from whoever (Dante?) was outside and Sparda was on his feet ready to face the intruder/Dante. And for a second, he was so sure it was Dante, the face, exact features and colouring, but instantly he knew it was wrong. So wrong.

Dante didn't wear his hair spiked backwards like that, almost like his own but not so flat. His colour was red, not the silken blue of this strangers coat and the eyes. They were cool, sombre, showing a sharp and calculating mind that even now he could sense the cogs turning sharply in.

Blue, that scent that was so like Dante's but with the tiniest difference, only to be told by the sharpest sense of smell. Features that mirrored his son's exactly. It all came to one terrible, deafening conclusion for him.

"Vergil." One word, spoken with joy and awash with the sense of his own failure.

"Father." The young half-devil before him said softly, the slightest trace of uncertainty in his voice.

Minutes ticked by where nothing was uttered, the two just watching at each other. Desperately trying to think of the best way to proceed.

"Dante's room is a disgrace." Vergil said finally, he turned his head to examine the study and its shelves. His eyes continually crept back to look at Sparda though. "You should really have him clean it."

Sparda closed his eyes for a minute, absorbing the cold tones of his eldest. His perfectly alive and well eldest child. "You've spoken with Dante?"

"No."

He released Shadowreaper, letting the blade lean against the desk and ignoring the disappointed thrum it gave at not being put to use. "Vergil I-"

"I thought you were dead, all of you." Vergil continued blandly, "That night I ran, as far as I could. All these years, I thought I was the only one,." his sharp eyes focused on his father, "Until I was told different." Accusation in his voice now.

Sparda rubbed a hand against his forehead. "I thought you were dead, we both did."

"Did you even bother to look?"

He paused. "No." the flash of hurt in Vergil's eyes made him feel sick inside. "I was half-dead from escaping hell, and with Dante so upset, I thought nothing more of getting away. Getting somewhere safe so that I could recover. I'm so sorry Vergil, if I had known I would have come for you. Believe me."

Vergil didn't answer, staring off into space as if absorbing what he'd heard., one of his hands stroked over the hilt of Yamato. Sparda welcomed the small pleasure he felt at seeing the blade safe, the knowledge that Vergil was using it and the blade was doing the task he had given it at the twins birth. Protecting his nestling.

"Ten years…" he said hoarsely, "Ten years I have struggled on _alone_." His hand trembled and he glared at his father. "Whilst you and Dante have been happily nestled up together."

Sparda moved forward, reaching out a hand to touch Vergil's cheek gently, wanting to soothe him before he could grow distraught. "Vergil."

He flinched back, causing Sparda to wince with guilt. When was the last time his eldest had known a gentle touch like this? The thought fuelled him onwards, his desire to cross the bridge and heal his nestlings wounds strong and desperate. "Please, I'm sorry for it all." When Vergil didn't flinch this time he gently moved his hand up, stroking the downy hair like he did when his sons were small. "You wouldn't believe how sorry Vergil, I want to make it all right again. Now you're here, we can be a family."

He kept his tone soft and gentle, close now to his child. Keeping his movements slow and calm, he looked into Vergil's eyes, seeing the shield breaking. The want that lurked beneath. He smiled softly as Vergil leaned his head against his hand, relaxation creeping into his posture, no longer quite so soldier like in its straightness.

"Me, you, and Dante." he whispered, "He'll be so pleased to see you again." he found himself basking in the image of the three of them, still incomplete but together.

Vergil's eyes half closed, they were so close now he was sure he could just reach out and take his child into his arms and hold him, take away all the pain he must feel inside. But just as he prepared to make the move Vergil's eyes suddenly shot open and he pulled back hurriedly, stepping away like a frightened animal.

"Vergil." Sparda said urgently, seeing the urge to run there. He didn't know why or where it had come from but he had to stop him. He tried to put a careful tone of command in his voice, thinking that maybe Vergil might still be susceptible to his authority as a parent even with their long separation.

"I…" The blue clad half-devil looked at him. "No, not… I need to think." he snapped and turned and in a blur ran back out the door.

Sparda tore after him, his monocle falling from his face in his hurry and he reached the corridor, twisting his head desperately to see which way Vergil had run. Only to see… nothing. He slumped back heavily against the door frame. Vergil must have learned displacement or teleportation, it was the only way for him to have disappeared so completely, and to outrun his father.

He couldn't believe this was happening to him. Vergil was alive, but it was all still so messed up. He just hoped he hadn't somehow managed to ruin it all already. Why had Vergil run from him?

For the second time that day, Sparda found himself praying to Eva's soul for guidance.

---

A few streets away, Vergil stumbled, fumbling to lean back and then slide down the brick wall of a house and collapse onto the pavement.

He felt like he was choking, suffocating. What an idea! Him, hyperventilating like some stupid… _human_! What was wrong with him? Why, why had he done that? He'd been so close, why did he have to run?! His father… that touch had been so wonderfully calming, like a balm on his wounded soul.

But he'd panicked and ran.

He just, he just had to calm down, to think. That was all, he would be fine, just fine.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, second chapter. I originally planned just to have a second, maybe third part. But this feels like a good place to stop, so I am. I'll do the Dante/Vergil meeting in the next chapter. It was originally going to be in this one but after an interesting discussion with Laryna6 I changed my mind and decided to have Vergil approach Sparda first. I hope you all enjoy anyway, it was fun playing with Vergil's insecurities and such. Though I feel so bad for making Sparda suffer more XD;

I should really work on the next chapter of 'The long Good Fight', Dante's having trouble getting past Cerberus right now. XD;


	3. Cain and Abel

Arkham stopped to observe Vergil, leaning against the window frame in the mansion with an intense look of thought on his face, how long he had been there he didn't know but he sensed things had gone badly between him and Sparda. He smiled cruelly for a moment before schooling his expression into one of neutrality, with a touch of light concern.

"Vergil, you've returned." he stated obviously, "Tell me, did things go well?"

"That's none of your concern." he said icily. "Now leave me."

"I see…" he closed his eyes as if momentarily pained before speaking, "How terrible it is, when a child cannot trust his parent. When familial bonds mean nothing in this world." The bald man sighed sadly, his fingers tight around the book that was his constant companion. Every word a lie, filled with hypocrisy, not that Vergil knew it. Arkham had carefully left out telling him about the ritual involving the sacrifice of his wife, only using Vergil for the release of the seven seals. He hadn't been surprised when the hybrid didn't even bat an eyelid about her disappearance, she was only human and therefore none of his concern.

He also doubted he'd registered Mary's presence at all before she'd left.

"That's enough!" Arkham blinked down at the length of cold steel that ran from his throat to the hilt in Vergil's hand, he'd definately touched a nerve.

"Of course, I apologise." he bowed his head slightly, stepping back and carrying on his way. "May I remind you the time is almost at hand? Tomorrow we must raise the tower."

"I know that."

"Of course." he smiled as he walked away, the demon world would be opened for sure. "The amulet?"

"I will get it." Vergil glared at his back. "Now leave!"

"As you wish.".

----

Dante chugged down the bottle of tomato juice like it was the best beer on the planet. Tapping his fingers against the wooden surface of the bar in time to the crappy music that they played in here. Otherwise it wasn't that bad, not very busy, which was how he liked it.

He'd tried a strip-joint called Love Planet first, but after getting accosted by some chubby Italian guy who spotted his guns and kept asking him if he was a mercenary and wanted an agent he'd gotten out of there. He was still half paranoid the guy would come after him, but since he'd offered to negate any reason he might have for being at the strip club with Ivory he figured he was safe.

Placing the bottle down he checked the dirt encrusted clock fixed to the wall, he'd been out that long already? It'd be dawn soon, the time when he usually preferred to erect a fort on his bed and get the few hours sleep that he did require.

Screw it, he'd had enough of this joint already. He slammed down the money he owed onto the counter and swivelled round on his stool to face the entrance, leaping off lightly and striding out into what remained of the night.

Glancing up at the moon that hung low and heavy in the night sky he paused, something seemed… odd. The half-devil Hunter glanced around the empty street, squinting for some sign of life other than himself. There was nothing, and that was enough to alarm him. This was the Red Light district, no matter what the hour, these streets should never be empty. Hell, it was more likely to deserted at midday than three in the morning.

"My spidey-sense is tingling…" he muttered, taking a moment to convince himself not to go for his guns and just to carry on walking. First tactics, make 'em think you didn't know they were there. Right, false sense of security and all that.

He walked on, kicking a stray can in front of him, through the clatters he listened intently for one clue as to where the big bad was, and when it was going to leap out at him.

But damn, this sucker seemed to be one of the infuriatingly patient ones. A few minutes later he'd walked two blocks and still hadn't had any sharp objects thrown his way, screw tactic number one. Time for tactic number two, the Dante approach!

"Heeeey, come on out already." He drawled, spreading his arms out wide and turning in a slow circle, "I know ya there you dumb shit. Get on and try to kill me already."

There was a whistle of air from his left, and only a millisecond before whatever it was hit him. It was enough.

Dante threw himself into a roll, spinning on the ground to twist and come up firing in the direction the projectile had come from. Something blue and glowing he noted, he'd watch out for that. It could be one of the ones who could actually manage more than one method of attack.

As he'd expected he hit nothing with his guns, well, except for the building obviously. Somebody wasn't going to be happy about that come morning. He huffed, "So you wanna play hide and seek eh? Fine by me. Shall I count to ten or are we past that already?"

He held Ebony and Ivory up high, in guard positions, ready to drop and fire at the slightest sign of the threat. "Come on already! I swear I'll play nice, heck I'll buy you a sundae afterwards if you live!"

Behind him! He jumped high and looked down, seeing a swarm of glowing blue swords sweep underneath him and impale the street sign. Dante performed an somersault and unleashed a hail of bullets around him, hoping to catch his prey off guard. He heard a pained grunt, it worked!

"Didn't like that did ya?" He laughed cockily as he landed, he waved his guns playfully in a universally understandable 'Come on!' gesture. "Get it together already!"

"You are incredibly obnoxious." Dante whipped round at the voice, using his guns to skilfully deflect the steel blade that arced down towards him before leaping back away from the danger zone. Shit, looked like he could've used Rebellion after all.

Lifting himself to his feet he looked up to take the measure of his opponent and froze. "Holy shit…"

"You have nothing better to say to your long lost older brother Dante?" Vergil smirked at him. Vergil! Fucking Vergil. Alive, well, and striding towards him looking slightly pissed (Why was he pissed?!) with sword drawn. This couldn't be real, yet all his senses seemed to be in order and he hadn't drunk anything. Unless the bartender had been serving shifty tomato juice.

Or someone had stuck a mirror there. Though that wouldn't explain the hair and clothes.

"Well… just seeing your face took me off guard for a second there. Ain't that pretty you know?" he said jokingly, his playful nature managing to give him a voice to answer. "Shit Verge, I-" he didn't have any time to continue, instead forced to dodge the sweep of Yamato.

"Same goes for you then I suppose." his twin replied dryly, coming after him without a seconds pause and soon Dante found himself trying to dodge the demonic katana's deadly dance.

"Whoa! Vergil cut it out already!" he said, why the hell was he attacking him?! Mind still reeling from seeing his twin Dante could think no further than making sure each strike missed. "Why are you attacking me?!"

He'd had dreams when he was younger, and hell still had them occasionally. The dream that Vergil and sometimes his mom would turn up safe and sound, and that everything would be alright. His mother he knew there was no hope for, he'd seen her dead form, sobbed at her side as the flames grew, only when they licked at his skin had he managed to tear himself away and escape. But with Vergil he'd always held out that slim hope that it'd be like a Sunday afternoon special, or a soap opera.

He'd just never imagined it'd happen like this.

"Who knows." Vergil glared coldly at him, relentless. "Maybe I just feel like it."

"Vergil!" he hissed as Yamato's keen edge glanced his side. "Don't make me hurt you!"

"You? Hurt me?" Uh oh, did he sound even more pissed off now? "Don't be foolish Dante!" Suddenly the direction of Yamato's swing changed, catching Dante off guard. That would miss, what was he- his eyes widened as he heard a snap of metal.

The young Hunter watched in horror as the bright stone of the amulet winked at him as it sailed through the air. Landing right in Vergil's waiting hand. All of a sudden he found himself able to come to a halt, Vergil pausing in his attack to stare at the jewel he held as if entranced.

Dante's training made him raise his guns instantly, aiming straight for Vergil's heart. "Vergil, give that back."

He didn't get an answer.

"Vergil I ain't fucking around, give it back. Then put your sword away and we can just talk. Come on." He said pleadingly, he didn't want to fight him. Not at all, but he sure as hell wasn't letting Vergil take the last thing their mother had ever given them away from him! His older brother should have his own, so long as he hadn't lost it. Boy dad would be upset if he had, considering what the things did.

Dad, now that would be interesting. He put that thought out of mind though as he took a cautious step forward.

"No Dante." Vergil looked up from his contemplation of the amulet, an odd glint in his eye.

"You've got your own! Give it back!" Dante snarled, anger starting to well up inside of him. So Vergil just decided to come back from the dead, attack him, steal his amulet and not even ask him how he was?! Screw that!

"Fine! I warned you Verge!! Have a taste from my girls and then you can rethink that answer!!" the guns let off a resounding roar as he squeezed their triggers, as if agreeing with their master about the whole thing.

Vergil dodged and Dante pursued, their roles now reversed. Round after round he fired after the blue blur that was his twin, Vergil avoided most of them, deflected some, and just a few sank into his form. The angry red of his wounds vanishing a moment later.

"Damn it STOP!" Dante cried out, full of rage and desperation now, heightened by the realisation that Vergil was trying to put distance between them purposefully, almost like he… he was going to leave! "Don't you fucking dare disappear on me!!"

He let out a breath of relief as Vergil paused atop the roof of the low lying building they had chased each other onto, gazing back at Dante emotionlessly.

"Yeah… that's better." Dante muttered, panting a little as he advanced. "Just, gimme back my amulet and take a breather already."

"Dante."

He looked to meet Vergil's eyes at that commanding tone, watching his brother warily. He might shoot more of those weird blue swords his way after all. Somehow he hated himself for not being able to let down his guard.

"Why are you doing this Vergil? I never thought this would be how a family reunion went down." he questioned, wondering how his grip on Ebony and Ivory was so steady.

"Did you enjoy your time with father Dante?" Vergil's eyes were like ice.

"What?!" Dante sputtered, "What are you on about Vergil? What's dad got to do with anything?!"

"Dante. Next time we meet, I will kill you."

Dante's eyes widened at the statement, and then widened some more when a storm of those blue blades hurtled his way. He did the only thing that came to mind at that moment and flung himself backwards off the roof.

Smack into a big old dumpster.

He groaned, pulling himself up amongst the refuse and scrunching his nose up tight against the vile concoction of smells that now assaulted his delicate sense of smell. There was no point rushing back up there, Vergil would be gone by now, And urgh, he wanted a shower.

Rolling out over the lip of the dumpster he landed heavily on his feet before holstering his guns. "Just my luck…" he ran a hand through his hair and winced as he pulled out a piece of something sticky, throwing it away before he had chance to see what it was.

He'd been covered in demon guts and blood but somehow, garbage just made him shudder.

So… he tried to collect himself, Vergil was alive. Alive and trying to kill him. After stealing his amulet. So, he needed to figure out why he was doing this, instead of the corny family reunion which he would have preferred. He was upset about something, that was obvious, and there was that line about dad…

His father. He shook himself, he needed to get home and talk to him. See what he thought, surely together they could find Vergil and then just figure this whole mess out. Part of him argued to leave Sparda out of this, to get Rebellion and find Vergil by himself. Unfortunately though he just didn't have a single clue as to where to start.

Having made his mind made up the red clad teenager tore through the night, his feet pounding along the streets at blinding speed towards his home.

----

A straight ten minute dash got him there in record time, scrambling for his usual ignorance of the fact the front door existed he headed for his window and vaulted up, landing catlike on the hardwood floor.

The rest of his expected journey was cut short however, there was no need to search the house for his father. Sparda was sitting right there on his bed, looking like he'd been waiting for him for quite some time.

For a moment father and son simply looked at each other, each taking in the sombre expressions (highly unusual for Dante) on their faces. Dante noted too the familiar pained look of guilt in his father's eyes, one he hated seeing, usually it had something to do with mom after all.

"Dad I saw Ver-"

"Dante, Vergil came-"

They had both spoken at the same time, and each cut off when they realised the other knew. Another long moment of silence in which Dante fidgeted uncomfortably stretched out until eventually Sparda let out a soft sigh.

He rested his elbows on his knees, one hand pressed to his forehead in thought. "I see he visited you too."

"Yeah…" Dante stomped forward, kicking his boots off irritably across the room before sitting heavily on his bed next to his father. "Saw me, tried to kill me, stole my amulet. It was great." He said, raising his voice slightly with the last part into an annoyingly cheerful falsetto. "Couldn't have given me a fucking hug for Chrissakes."

"Language Dante." Sparda said habitually before freezing, "He attacked you?" he said hoarsely, and the amulet. Why would he take the amulet?

"Yeah!" Dante ruffled his hair irritably, "There I was, walking home, perfectly innocently-" Sparda rolled his eyes. "-perfectly innocently," he carried on regardless, "And then all of a sudden out of nowhere he came at me! He cut off the amulet then left, barely said a word to me the whole time." he decided to leave out telling his father about the death threat.

Sparda gazed evenly at him, "How did he manage to take the amulet?"

Dante winced, "Well… he was attacking me with Yamato, I didn't want to fight him ya know. I was trying to get him to stop and he caught me by surprise when I didn't have Rebellion on me. Not like I let him take it!" He snapped, "That's the last thing I'd let anybody take."

"I know, I know." Sparda held up his free hand in a calming gesture., rubbing his temple with the other. He'd have to start ordering Dante to take the sword everywhere with him, something he should have learned already is that you could never have too many weapons on you.

"So what did he say to you?" Dante tapped his fingers against his mattress, the cover was kicked into one of the top corners from his naptime exercises. He didn't know if he wanted to know, but asked anyway.

"Well, he didn't attack me. Per se." Sparda gazed at his youngest, for a moment seeing slicked back hair and blue finery there, he blinked his eyes and the image was gone. "He seemed upset… like I abandoned him." he said quietly, "In favour of you."

"Oh, guess that explains it then." Dante realised with a sickening feeling, and the beginnings of anger.

"Explains what?"

"When he asked me if I'd enjoyed my time with you. Like it was this whole big deal." Dante snorted, was that it? Was that why he'd decided to kill him?! "Not like we purposefully ignored the fact he was alive!"

"Dante I don't think-" Sparda stopped at the look in his nestlings eye.

"And there you go Dad, you're gonna guilt trip on this just like you do with what happened to mom." A seconds pause in which they suppressed the old pain, and for Dante to stem any of his usual anger when it came to the subject. "If he's going to be pulling some shit on us just because he's not bright enough to get over it then he's an idiot! I'm not going to let him accuse us of doing wrong so he can make himself feel better! And if he's got any beef about it he should just come out and say it to my face." he growled, "Not being sneaky and making snide comments like a… like a.. coward."

"Dante…" Sparda shook his head, sitting up and gently resting a hand on his sons shoulder. "I don't think its quite that simple."

"Yeah it is!" Dante was half tempted to shrug the hand off, anger and indignation bubbling up. "I'm not letting him get away with it! I'm going to find him and beat some sense into him! If he thinks for one second that I-" his voice started to crack painfully, "That I don't give a crap about him, and that you don't either then-"

"Shh…" Sparda pulled Dante close to rest his head against his shoulder, feeling the suppressed sob running through the lean frame. "You're right Dante." he stroked the messy hair, "You're right. We'll find him tonight and prove that to him, I promise you."

Silence, in which Sparda obligingly ignored the moisture on his shoulder to maintain Dante's masculine pride and Dante accepted the comfort to show that he did appreciate his father's presence.

"Yeah, good. Thanks Pops." Dante pulled away eventually, quickly wiping at his face to destroy evidence, trying to force his expression back into its usual cocky teenage arrogance.

Sparda smiled, remembering how amused he'd been the first time Dante has used that, and how comically offended ten year old Dante had been at his laughter. "Get some rest, I have a feeling that what is coming will not be easy."

"Cheerful aren't you Dad?"

"Dante after being alive as long as I have, you too will have the right to a little pessimism." He chuckled, getting to his feet and ruffling Dante's hair playfully, enjoying the indignant squawk that followed.

"Yeah yeah." Dante huffed, running his hands through his hair in an effort to smooth it back down to its usual cool image.

"And Dante?" Sparda paused at the doorway, looking back with bemusement.

"… yeah?" The younger twin asked cautiously, recognising that tone of voice.

"Take a shower first, you smell you've been playing in garbage." Sparda smirked, holding up a small piece of rotting lettuce he'd picked off the back of Dante' coat without him noticing.

"Daaaaad! It was an accident I swear!!" Dante's whine followed him out into the hallway as Sparda chortled loudly, heading for his own room. Only letting his expression darken when he was certain Dante would not see it.

He had arrangements to make.

----

The next evening Sparda stood waiting in all his finery, or what Dante called his 'Old man uniform'. the trademark purple suit with cravat. Shadowreaper was slung across his back ready for action, the dark blade letting him know the hunger it felt for souls. He just hoped he wouldn't have to use it much.

Across from him the movers he'd hired to take his and Dante's belongings to another house in the city were just driving off, the bad feeling he had not allowing him to take the chance that this place would be safe by the time they returned

Dante had been infinitely pleased at being woken up mid-afternoon to pack.

"Hey Dad!" Speak of the half-devil. "When are you going to stop wearing that? You look like the villain in a bad vampire movie."

He turned to watch his son striding towards him through the failing light, Rebellion laid casually across his shoulders. "Maybe so, but I'll have you know this was considered the height of fashion once."

"When, the Dark Ages?" Dante quipped.

"The nineteenth century is hardly the Dark Ages. I believe I drilled that into you during our lessons." Sparda said, lightly smacking him over the head. A hit that would have sent a human flying into the fence.

"Evidently you didn't drill deep enough." Dante snickered.

"That's because I believed any attempts to drill further would result in the drill breaking on your thick skull my boy." Sparda glanced to make sure the movers were gone before he settled for a more serious expression.

"So Pops, how are we going to find him? Run around like headless chickens?"

"No Dante, instinct will have to serve, as we have no clues as to where he might be." Sparda rolled his eyes.

"So running around like headless chickens then."

"I prefer the way I said it."

Dante shrugged, "Splitting up or are we staying together?"

"We would cover more ground apart." Sparda answered after a moments deliberation, "You know how to call for me if you should come upon him." he would have preferred to stick together, but that would take their chances of tracking Vergil from slim to next-to-none. "Be cautious, and please none of your recklessness this time around. Call me immediately if you find him."

"Fine dad, I'll be good." Dante grumbled, kicking the dirt with his boot. He followed his father out through the gates, the resounding clang of the gates behind him ringing with the finality that he had just bid another home goodbye.

The two looked at each, before with a nod Sparda gave Dante the permission to take off to his right. He watched the figure of his youngest disappear before turning and walking down to the left. That daunting feeling would not diminish, it grew and twisted inside him and suddenly he worried that letting Dante go on his own was a very bad idea. He shook his head, he had trained the boy well, he had to trust in his abilities and that he would act responsibly when the time came.

Still, he had done some thinking during the day as Dante slept. Taking the amulet from Dante, perhaps Vergil had wanted another remnant of Eva? Or it could be a purely spiteful action towards Dante but he wanted to give Vergil more credit than that. Together the amulets were only useful when combined with his power, with Force Edge, the sword that was now locked away alongside most of his abilities in the underworld. To recover it would mean…

His eyes widened as the ground trembled and his senses suddenly went haywire, forcing him to stumble to the side of the road and grasp at a lamppost for support. He turned to watch with horror at a sight he had hoped he would never see.

From the ground like some monstrous plant Temen-Ni-Gru sprouted, clawing upwards to reach the sky and searing the air with a heavy demonic power that had been long banished from this world. Dust spread up with it in a great smoking cloud to envelope the city like a fog, and in it he knew that demons would be appearing left, right and centre. Already he imagined he could hear the screams of the humans that would inevitably be falling at their claws.

He pushed himself up as the tower settled into place, and his senses adjusted to the dark power that emanated from it. Vergil…

Purposefully he took off towards the tower, using the roofs to avoid the streets that grew more crowded by the panicky mortals, coming out to view this disruption to their lives. He silently begged them to retreat back indoors and stay there until it was over, hiding would be the best they could do.

Vergil had resurrected Temen-Ni-Gru for some reason, but why? How had he even known about the tower? Unless… someone else had to be behind this, pulling the strings. Not his nestling, he had to have faith that Vergil wasn't corrupted.

His heart skipped a beat a moment later as he realised that the tower was directly in the path Dante had taken. He prayed the boy would have the sense to wait for him instead of barrelling in, the dangers of the tower were beyond anything he had yet faced.

This was all becoming something like a nightmare. One he had suppressed for two thousand years.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And there you go, chapter 3. Boy these things keep getting longer, I have the feeling the next one will be huge if I don't decide to split it up. I only want one more chapter, and possibly an epilogue after to this. I'm not sure how long it'll be before I put it up, I wanted to get this story done before November but I have the feeling it won't be.

Particularly as I haven't decided what ending to use yet. . ; I probably won't know until I write it. Anyways, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :3

Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, I think that whole story fits Dante and Vergil rather well.


	4. Beginning of the end

"The tower is raised." Arkham murmured, almost to himself though Vergil stood not six feet away, in the very centre of the tower's platform , "The demon world will soon be opened, and all will come to pass as was promised." he closed his book, smoothing the cover lovingly for a moment.

"Arkham what are you babbling about?" Vergil snapped irritably, he'd been in a non-stop bad mood since the previous night.

"Oh, nothing." he raised his head to stare at the son of Sparda.

Vergil snarled, "Then don't make such noise!" before he snapped his gaze back to the view.

Arkham smirked, rising to his feet unbefitting to such a visage. "If I may, I do have something useful to say. You already have both parts of the amulet correct? So why do you linger up here, why not begin your journey to the control room now?" He walked over to stand beside the silver haired teenager, "I imagine your esteemed father and brother have noticed the Temen-Ni-Gru has risen, and are probably on their way here to stop you."

"Stop me…" Vergil looked down at his hand, Arkham was now able to see that in it rested both parts of the amulet, the chains wrapped together around the young Sparda's arm.

"Yes, as wise as your father is…" he didn't let his contempt sound too much, "He did seal this tower away, I doubt he'd like to see his handiwork being undone. Especially by his own son. Wouldn't you agree?"

Vergil stroked his thumb over one softly glowing jewel before closing his fist and letting his arm drop down by his side. "I'll go when I am quite ready Arkham, not before."

"Yes, of course." Arkham bowed the smallest bit and backed away, "You do know best after all."

Vergil didn't pick up on the small amount of sarcasm in Arkham's tone, either that or he simply wasn't listening anymore, too caught up in his own turbulent thoughts.

Ten minutes later the eldest Sparda child walked towards the edge of the tower.

Two steps from the lip he looked back suspiciously at Arkham, who had not moved an inch, "You're not coming?"

"Forgive me, but there are things I must attend to. An unexpected guest has arrived." He bowed his head, for all the world looking like he was praying with that book in his hands.

Vergil watched him uncertainly for a moment, "Fine, I don't care what you do." he finally snorted before walking swiftly onwards and leaping down into the darkness, his coat flaring out behind him.

Arkham waited patiently until he was certain the Sparda boy was gone before rising and leisurely walking to the edge of the tower. The younger son had just entered the tower, the father rushed to prevent disaster. Dear Mary roared closer in the name of vengeance.

So many pieces, each carefully set on the chessboard. Now was the time for the skilful hand of the main player, guiding all to their correct place, ready to enact the final move.

One to be guided.

Two to be delayed.

All to die.

Yes, this would be the greatest game ever executed on the earth.

As the first thunder sounded, the laughter of a madman echoed along with it.

----

Dante huffed, he shouldn't have.

He really, really shouldn't have.

Somehow though, when the gigantic spire shoved itself out of the earth looking like the tower of Babel's retarded cousin everything his father had drilled into him went out of his head. Replaced instead by shock, then anger at how stupid Vergil was being, then for a while it was a killing lust as he slaughtered every demon in his way to get through to the entrance and beyond.

Now he stood panting in the empty entrance chamber, in one hand clutching his fancy new Devil arm whilst the other used Rebellion to give him something to lean on. Defeating three headed dogs, easy. Yeah.

Grunting he made himself stand up straight, taking a moment to discern whether his strength really was all back or not, seemed that way. He sheathed Rebellion and stowed Cerberus away in his coat. There should be a God of Time statue somewhere around here to stow it in if it became a burden, but right now he was eager to try out the new toy.

His sharp ears twitched, picking up the sound of an approaching engine. What the hell was that?

His question was answered in the shattering of the large ice formation behind him, caused by Cerberus' breath when he first insulted the huge demon dog. Dante whipped around to see a motorbike falling through the air towards him, he barely had time to throw himself backwards, limber as any contortionist, to avoid getting his face run over.

"Whoa, you going to the party too?" he asked, turning round with a grin, his hands held up in mocking peace gesture as he heard the bikes brakes squealing. His grin widened even more when he saw the passenger. Damn, despite the scar and bizarre eyes she was pretty hot. Plus he just dug the cute Catholic schoolgirl outfit.

However he didn't dig getting his answer in the form of a large rocket launcher, he sidestepped the missile in a blur of speed. Then, just because he felt like showing off (he couldn't help it when hot chicks were around) he grabbed hold of the tube shaped thing and swung himself upwards, riding it like it was a surfboard.

This was one hell of a rush!! Shifting his weight he was able to control just where it flew as well! A cacophony of whoops and yells flew out of his mouth as he zoomed about the chamber like he was the Silver Surfer or some shit. As he felt the fuel in the rocket begin to give out, the missile shuddering in midair and using his feet to angle it at the ceiling he leapt off, landing catlike on the ground to grin at the girl.

She didn't look impressed. More like super pissed off.

His face fell into a childish pout as the explosion rocked the room and glass shattered. Why did everyone he met keep giving him that expression lately?

The bike's engine gunned again and he watched as she drove right for him, rearing her bike upwards and igniting the nitro's that were built into the back to send her sailing up through the air, missing his face by scant inches, then she was gone. Right through the hole he'd just created.

"Crap, why do all the good women hate me?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head in puzzlement before shrugging it off. He stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled, walking towards the door out.

He made a note to remember to see about getting a bike like that, must be one heck of a ride.

Twenty minutes, many passageways and a heck of a lot of dead demons later he was stuck. Who the hell built this place?! Didn't they ever hear of maps? Maybe a latch?

No, everything had to opened with some mystical magical key, he'd just spent ages looking for a way to get the last one!

Right, calm down, think. He scanned the area surrounding the door carefully, no sign of a keyhole, just a weird stone protruding from the wall. Frowning Dante walked forward, bending over to examine it, his fingers traced the engravings lightly. Was there meaning behind them? Or were they just there to look pretty?

He was fairly certain this had to be what opened the door, but there was no slot to insert an item or discernable knack to it. He remembered a saying his father used to quote to him when he was trying to figure out a problem, 'Sometimes the right answer is the one staring you in the face.'

Basically it was Sparda's way of saying that something might look complicated, but be a trick to hide the truth from you.

"So what's the obvious way to make this thing work?" he muttered, then he brightened. One of his favourite way of course, break it! He grasped Rebellion's hilt firmly and brought it arcing down in a firm swing, right into the middle of the stone.

It didn't break, but the blade in his hand resonated softly. From inside the wall came the clanking of hidden gears and to his delight the door opened up. "Yes!! Time to head on up!"

"Bravo! Bravo my boy!!" A high pitched voice cackled, "You figured it out, and here I was wondering that you weren't too bright!"

Dante spun, a blur of movement that had Ivory pressing hard against the nose of the grotesque looking clown before him. Rebellion ready to sweep in like a meat cleaver and saw the weirdo in half. "What were you saying freak? Careful, else I'll pierce that oversized nose of yours." he smirked.

"Ahh… nothing, nothing too important." The clown babbled, "Now er, say there sonny jim, how about you put the pig shooter away and we can talk? I've got lots of interesting things to say!"

"Yeah," Dante tilted his head, shoving Ivory harder into the clowns face. "Like what?"

"Oh well, I can tell you were your brother is! Yes that I can do!" he giggled aimlessly.

Dante narrowed his eyes, then pulled Ivory back and away. Not like he couldn't shoot clown boy without being at point blank range. "Start talking banana nose, else I'll make you."

"Oh my! Such a firey temper! Not at all like your dear brother!" he shuddered theatrically, "Colder than a Polar bear on ice that one!"

"Now clown!" Dante snapped, shooting off a few warning shots.

The tight wearing idiot danced aside. "Sorry my boy! Sorry! Righto! My name, is Jester." he paused for a moment like he was expecting applause, then sighed when none was forthcoming. "I know a lot of things about this tower, and what's going on inside it! And I can tell you, that up is the wrong way to go!"

"What the hell you on about freak?"

"Vergil's going down to the control room in the basement!" he sing songed merrily. "He's got those two spiffy amulets of your mothers and plans to take this tower for a test drive!"

Dante growled before saying demandingly, "Test drive?"

"Tut tut, surely daddy dearest told you about this tower and the spell he used to seal it? This great shaft that causes women to shudder." the fiend gave a shudder of his own alongside a womanly sigh. "Is not just a tower, but a tunnel to the demon world. And that shiny amulet is what he used to seal it away!"

Dante felt like his stomach was doing a triple somersault, "Vergil's going to open the portal to the Demon world…"

"Correctamundo!" Jester clapped merrily, "So bright kids these days."

"But why?" he stalked forward, Rebellion ready to strike for an answer.

"Oh sorry my boy I don't know, I don't do reasoning myself, far too boorooing!" He cackled, "But I'll tell you this, if you want to stop him you'd better get down there lickity split!"

"Oh yeah? And I suppose you'll be kind enough to point the way for me?"

"Certainly!" Jester bowed, his eccentric attire swirling about his skinny form. "Through the door, up the stairs and out the back corridor! Then hop, hop, hop skip and jump down into the underground levels! Down to the basement…." he grinned evilly. "Vergil will be waaaiiitiiiing! Hahahahahahhahaahahaaaaaa!"

Suddenly the discomforting glow of Jester's eyes were peering at him from the ceiling, skipping madly away as if gravity had reversed itself just for him, his mocking laughter echoing back to the young Devil hunter.

Dante growled and shot off a few rounds, all missing before he lowered his gun. "God damn freaks, I need to talk to the guy in charge of demon emigration." he stowed away his weapons, "Standards are far too loose for my tastes."

He shook his head and after a moments hesitation went the way the clown had pointed out to him.

"Damn it Vergil, just what the Hells got into you?"

----

Outside Sparda was having problems of his own, Leviathan sized problems.

The moment he had gotten near to the doorway the great demon fish had suddenly dive bombed from the air towards him, and now it was doing a pretty good job of keeping him from entering the tower. Guns, he needed guns. Swords were excellent for bludgeoning your way in but he'd feel more comfortable being able to shoot at this one.

Of course, he doubted even Luce and Ombra would have had much of an effect. Oh how he lamented the loss of those guns. Taken by Mundus, most likely destroyed.

Most annoying of all was that there was neither hide nor hair of Dante. His spontaneous younger son had obviously ran right in, when he caught up to him…

He had no time to finish that thought as he dodged a ball of crackling energy that spiralled his way. The road exploding into tarmac fragments beneath him.

He had to get past Leviathan quickly, he hadn't the time to kill the monstrous fish. To do so would likely require cutting away through every layer of flesh and muscle until he could destroy the great demons organs. He hadn't the time!

Shadowreaper sang its approval of the plan, but Sparda cowed the black blade with a firm execution of his will. "Calm, you will get more blood tonight, unfortunately we must allow this one to live."

He had an idea, gazing into the tiny pig-like eyes of Leviathan he raised his arm and called forth an orb of his own power. He prayed the demons mass was equivalent to that of a dinosaurs when it came to brain capacity.

Throwing the orb he moved straight after it, using the energy like a living shield. As he expected the huge fish shut its eyes to protect them from the burn of power. His orb shattered almost harmlessly on the thick armour like skin, but Sparda sailed onward, up and over onto Leviathan's back.

He literally flew along the broad expanse, his feet never seeming to touch the floor, rather float across it. When he reached the tail he leapt off, sailing through the air onto one of the outer walkways of Temen-Ni-Gru. He plunged his blade through a shocked Hell Pride and rolled to his feet, running, running hard along the path and dodging into the first entryway he found.

From outside Leviathan's mournful cry for its lost prey throbbed through the air.

Sparda sighed in relief, he had made it into the tower. Unfortunately the stunt had cost him. He now had farther to travel downwards than if he'd managed to go in the front way. He was growing steadily more livid with Dante, he was seeing red. He just wanted to catch up to his errant brood, then smash Dante's head (lovingly) into a wall, and attempt to talk to Vergil.

If he believed this was all just Vergil's idea then he wouldn't have been too worried, he'd gone to the farthest lengths to destroy any record that detailed the ritual he'd used. Anyone who had known had been sworn to secrecy and were long dead, the only person he'd told since then had been Eva. Neither of his sons should know the truth, that a mortal woman's blood had also flowed to seal the gate.

It wasn't that he thought they would think less of him for it, but simply that if he was the only person who knew then the safer the world would be. Another lock on the demonic tower.

But he was certain someone else pulled the strings here, he could feel the malevolence, not that which was embedded in each stone of the tower since its foundations were laid. Something newer, with a tang of human. He didn't know if the priestesses line had survived the centuries, but he couldn't afford to take the chance that someone had discovered the truth.

Sparda shook his head and walked towards the door of the chamber, kicking the lock apart. It was well that he remembered the layout, if he was exploring for the first time he would be sorely worried.

Striding towards the nearest stairwell he calmly sliced apart everything in his way.

----

Arkham watched with displeasure in his mismatched eyes.

Curses, he'd hoped Leviathan would keep the Dark Knight busier for much longer than that!

He glowered at the monster for its failure, but had no time to do anything about it. He must throw everything possible at Sparda, and guide the younger son through the dangers whilst also wearing him down.

A lesser man would have quailed at the challenge, he merely relished it.

Luckily Temen-Ni-Gru had plenty of pawns for him to sacrifice.

----

Here it was, just like Arkham had told him it would be. He'd fought his way down here as fast as his abilities allowed. He'd slain most that opposed him, other he left alive for any who would follow. Like that Succubus woman.

But it was worth the exhaustion and beating he had taken in bludgeoning his way down here, he'd reached his goal and would gain the power he'd coveted for so long.

Vergil walked slowly around the circular chamber, studying the strange spiral designs carved into the floor. The centrepiece of the design was a small circular hole, filled with a distinctly glowing blue liquid, providing the light for the entire room.

In his hands the amulets resonated in response, he could feel their power waking up, their yearning to join together and become one again.

He walked forward, standing there with an amulet in each hand. Then after a moment he released his grip, watching in slight amazement as they rose up into the air, each glowing with light. Then they spun around, moving closer until back to back they twisted, the gold and silver chains twining about each other in a fashion that seemed almost loving.

Then abruptly they dropped downwards, still twisting through the air until the blue light swallowed them up, gone from his view.

His first instinct was to dive down after them and pull them back.

He clenched his fist in denial of that thought. This was completely necessary, he would do what he must!

Kneeling in front of the circle he drew out Yamato, raising his hand in preparation to spill the blood needed to unleash hell. It was a momentous moment, his palm placed against the keen edge of the blade, just a little more and he would bleed. It would begin.

So why wasn't he doing it?

He wanted to do this didn't he?

"_You wouldn't believe how sorry Vergil, I want to make it all right again. Now you're here, we can be a family."_

He shook his head viciously, trying to knock his father's voice from his mind.

But oh, it was tempting. Those words, he'd dwelled on them since he had run from Sparda's kind touch. To be with his family again, no more loneliness. He didn't know though, the bitter resentment of his years of solitude were firm in their foundations. Could he ever let go of it?

And what he was doing now, was it not the deepest betrayal of his father ideals?

Unlocking the gates of Hell which he had sealed to protect humans. Vergil had killed many humans over the years, despising their weakness, his mother had fallen because she was weak, human. And yet…

Had his father not also fallen? Been caged by his greatest enemy for five years, his wholly demon blood not enough to save him.

No, that could only be because his father's power was sealed here. And that was precisely what he had come for. He didn't want to unleash Hell on earth, but gain the power, with Force Edge he could not fail to prove his strength in the underworld and gain vengeance for that which had ruined his life.

Still, he could not move the blade.

He groaned aloud, something he would never have let himself do in front of others.

All his desires, all his want for power were being held back, stunted by the memory of his father's face. His soul ached for his parent and twin and he cursed this… weakness. It had to be weakness, true strength was being able to sacrifice whatever it took to achieve your ultimate desire.

Yet here he knelt, hesitating. Unable to do the final deed.

Vergil gritted his teeth, he could do this. One quick cut was all that was needed.

But instead his hand moved downwards, letting Yamato rest against the floor, the metal scraping against intricately worked stone lightly. Bowing his head, he realised that he could not, he just couldn't.

He had to speak to his Father again. He had to find out if that look in his eyes, if those words were truth. He could not bring himself to close the door on that path.

Decision made he reached down, seeking to regain the amulets from the glowing circle.

Vergil suddenly choked. His lungs strained and hot liquid bubbled up from his throat, flooding his mouth and spilling out from his lips down his front. Blood, that salty taste, it was blood.

Shuddering he lowered his eyes to his chest, to the skeletally thin white arm capped with wicked nails that crackled with electricity that erupted from his ribcage. Blood ran off it in rivulets, down into the waiting lock. Even that which fell upon the stonework slid towards the blue glow, the once clear liquid becoming tainted by red.

With the realisation of what had happened came pain, his nerves roaring into unwelcome life and informing him of every agony they suffered.

"Wh- who?" he gasped, blood bubbling from his lips with every word.

"Dear, dear Vergil, I worried you know. That after talking to Daddy dearest you wouldn't be able to pull off the ritual." The voice was annoyingly high pitched, "And lo and behold, I was right!"

Vergil sought to bring Yamato up and behind him but his wrist was shattered by an oversized foot, clad in purple.

"Ah ah ahhh! Don't be naughty Vergil!" a malicious cackle came loud and painful in his sensitive ears. "Else Daddy might have to give you a spanking! Oh but wait, you've already been so disobedient haven't you? He's probably coming to do that anyway!"

Vergil snarled, he had to free himself, but each movement was a fresh rip in his flesh. The crackling power somehow preventing his regeneration.

"Whatever would you mother say?" The owner of the voice said gleefully, "Or the neighbours? Can you imagine Vergil?! 'Oh that Sparda boy! So wild and hedonistic! The fault must be with the parents!' " The imitation of a woman was feeble at best.

"Of course I know the answer to that Vergil…" he turned his head as the creatures head peered round his shoulder at last, a disgustingly frightful mockery of a clown. The demon licked its lips almost hungrily.

"More DISCIPLIIIINE!" He cackled wildly and Vergil screamed as the hand ripped upwards, parting flesh, organs and bone. From chest through to his shoulder and the spray of blood was like a waterfall upon the seal.

The pain was unbearable.

Jester giggled, jumping up and skipping about merrily as the form of Vergil slumped forward, a dead weight upon the lock of the gateway.

"Good night sweet prince!" he bowed, giving the limp body a kick for luck before skipping away merrily. "Ohh what a grand day! Time to welcome the next guests!"

* * *

I know, I said that I'd do everything in one last chapter. but after chatting to Darkiepunk she suggested I split it, as it was already at 13 pages with qite a bit more to go. And besides, y'all get a cliffhanger now. Ain't that nice? XD

You won't have much long to wait for the next chapter, as there's already a good portion of it written. Before Wednesday I should have it done. :3 Thanks for reading!


	5. The end

"Nevan, would you mind getting out of my way please?" Sparda glowered at the succubus giggling before him.

"Oh come on sugar! It's been two thousand years since I got to look at this face, you wouldn't ruin the moment for a girl, would you?" She purred, slinking closer, hand reaching out to press against his chest. "Come on… stay and have a little fun."

He sighed and raised his sword, "Not counting the fact that I have been married since then , I would not take part in your entertainment no matter what the circumstances Nevan." he glared, holding up his hand with wedding ring firmly on his finger, "If you persist in getting in my way I will kill you."

She pulled back slightly, sugar pink eyes looking mournfully into his. "Oh shoot, you would spoil a girl's appetite wouldn't you?" she sighed theatrically, her bats swarming around her. "The first excitement in two thousand years and it all bypasses me; I didn't even get to meet those two boys of yours."

"Something that I'm shockingly grateful for."

She laughed, "Oh Sparda, so witty!" her hand traveled silkily up and down his front before playfully tangling with his cravat. "Sure you won't play with me? Those nestlings of yours can wait just a few minutes…"

"Nevan." his eyes started to glow deadly red, he was swiftly reaching the end of his tether.

The succubus gulped, realising that he really wasn't in the mood for fooling. She asked herself if she really wanted to get between him and his children, the answer was a resounding 'no'.

"Well," she backed away. "Go ahead then sugar, but if you have the time to-"

"I will not." he snapped, storming forwards.

"Oh, by the way Sparda dear..."

He clenched his fists to stare back at her, calm, remain calm.

"Watch out for the clown," she purred.

He shook his head, before turning and carrying on his way, ignoring her sinfully wicked sigh of disappointment. The clown? Clearly Nevan knew more about what was going on than she had said, but he hadn't the time to interrogate her.

Dropping the thought, he ploughed into the next wave of Prides and Sloths.

----

Dante decapitated the last of the Prides in his way, and with his guns shattered the frozen form of the remaining Blood Goyle. Man, what a ride.

He'd never seen anything like this place before, so many demons! Not just the everyday ones either, they were stronger than any he'd faced before. It was costing him to fight them all he knew, he could feel himself wearing down despite the vital stars he'd used to restore himself time and again.

How long he'd been down here he didn't know, he'd followed the corridors, going through the doors that unlocked for him. He wasn't stupid either, the way that some paths were open, that he found the keys for certain ones but not others all led to the conclusion that somebody had planned this out. His mind went back to that Jester freak whenever the thought arose.

Not that he cared any, he was looking for his brother, so long as this route led there he didn't give a flying fuck.

He wasn't the only on who'd come this way though, he could scent the presence of the girl he'd seen earlier. Not too old, maybe ten minutes or so. It just raised the question again of why she was even here though in the first place. She could be a demon hunter of her own accord, though even so he was amazed she wasn't dead yet with all he'd had to face. She couldn't have had it much easier.

He pressed on, shoving open the next set of doors roughly and stopped, staring round the circular chamber in shock. It was so much the chamber itself that shocked him, but the stink of blood that assaulted his nostrils. Blood that smelled disturbingly like his own.

His eyes shifted to the centre, red liberally painted over the floor design, all leading to the blue coated figure laying motionless there.

"Vergil!" he yelled, starting to run forwards to his brother. What the hell had taken him down?!

"Hold it!" he slid to a halt at the feminine voice, slowly turning his head to look back over his shoulder. So there she was, must've been hiding next to the door. With all the blood about he hadn't even noticed her.

"Who are you?" She snapped, her rocket launcher aimed right at his head.

"Didn't we do this already babe, you know that thing won't do any good against me." he said with a wolfish grin, spreading his hands wide as he turned to face her fully.

"Yeah, well I might just hit Vergil over there, you seem pretty concerned about him." she glared, her right eyelid twitching at the word 'babe'.

"Well he is my brother and all." he shrugged, "So you know, babe, I wouldn't mind going over there to check on him."

"Don't call me babe!" She snapped at an annoyingly loud volume.

"Well, tell me your name then."

"You first."

He rolled his eyes, "Dante." he waited, "Okay, now you."

"I don't have a name." She growled, shifting the rocket launcher slightly.

He smirked, that thing looked pretty heavy. "So what am I supposed to call you?"

"I don't care, whatever you want." she snapped.

"Whatever Lady." he shrugged, "So can I go now? Or is there something else you want to interrogate me on?"

His answer came in the form of a deep gasp from behind. He whirled around to see Vergil shoving himself up onto his hands and knees, before weakly using Yamato as a prop to push himself to his feet.

He looked far different from the dispassionate man Dante had encountered before; his eyes seemed a little wild and dilated, blood stained his front and chin whilst his hair was falling from its distinctive style, making him look even more like Dante.

"Hey Verge, you ain't looking so hot."

Vergil growled, "Shut up Dante."

"Wow, you aren't so fancy now are you? What happened to that, 'I'm going to kill you' bullshit?" he grinned, hiding his worry as he watched how Vergil was fighting to remain upright.

Vergil glared coldly at him.

"So looks like you did a bang up job of opening the demon world." Dante continued his commentary, "You got the blood, I assume you stuck the amulets in there right?" he glanced around, "Well you must've fucked something up, cos it ain't working."

"Shut up both of you!" The girl yelled from behind him. "I don't know what the hell is going on here but I want an explanation!"

"Stay out of this woman. It's not your business." Vergil immediately snapped at her.

"Hey Verge don't pick on girls!" Dante chastised, "It's not nice."

"Would you BE QUIET?!" Vergil rushed at him, rapidly bringing Yamato up for battle, and Dante swiftly countered with Rebellion.

"Whoa bro! Take it easy, don't think you're in any condition to be taking me on!" Dante grinned at him, shoving hard with his blade and forcing Vergil to back-pedal.

"I'm fine!"

And with that the two brothers went at it, their swords singing through the air as they slashed at each other.

They danced around the chamber, movements almost invisible to the eyes of the girl, the newly christened Lady. She watched amazed by the speed and grace that the twins displayed, her mouth falling to hang open slightly. "They're not human…" she whispered, they couldn't be. No human could move like that, take the blows that they gave each other.

Sure enough more blood was landing on the floor from both brothers, sliding down the engravings steadily.

"Shit Vergil." Dante growled as he backed his brother into the wall, watching as Vergil desperately tried to shove him off. "Give it up already, you're going to kill yourself at this rate!"

"Why do you care?" the elder twins voice dripped poisonously.

"Because I'm your brother that's why, if you want to fight me fair enough. But not when you've taken such a beating already." He grunted, "You really went overboard with the whole blood spillage didn't ya?"

"Are you really so stupid to think I'd do that to myself?! I-"

Their conversation was cut off as a shocked shriek sounded from Lady's direction. Abruptly both lowered their swords to stare at her as she now lay prostrate on the floor, weakly struggling to pull herself up. Standing above her with the rocket launcher in hand was Jester, malicious smirk firmly in place.

"Oh my, my, my." He cackled, "Would you look at what I've caught in my net! Two little Sparda's and darling Mary."

"How do you… know my name?" She gasped, turning her head to look up at him. Her mismatched eyes widening with shock at what she saw. Shock echoed by the half-devil twins.

Arkham looked down at her, his pleasure evident. "Quite easily my dear, blood never lies after all."

"Arkham?" Vergil couldn't believe what he was seeing, that loathsome human librarian had been the one who… impossible!

"Ahh Vergil," he raised his head to smile at him. "Still alive I see, I guess you really do possess some of your father's strength after all, if not his intelligence."

"What the fuck are you on about, freak?!" Dante demanded, breaking in on the moment. Carefully shifting in front of Vergil protectively and trying not to be obvious about it, last thing he needed was a stab in the back. He was officially freaked out; this was the guy he'd seen in his dreams. If he knew Vergil… huh, guess their twin bond wasn't that dead after all.

And then it was Jester cackling insanely at him again, "Oh isn't it obvious boy? I've been playing you all for fools! Especially your dear older brother there. My, he was so deliciously easy to manipulate, sad isn't it? But never mind that, you're all here! All my carefully laid plans can come to life!"

"Plans?" Dante whipped out his pistols; judging by the way Vergil was wavering on his feet he doubted he had to worry about him right now, so he concentrated on the clown.

"Why to unlock the power of this tower of course!" then it was Arkham again, casually placing a foot on the small of Lady's back. "To do so I needed three things, as you know the amulets and your father's blood were two parts of the key. But there was a third ingredient in Sparda's spell."

"What?!" Vergil was incensed, Arkham had lied to him, and the utter humiliation at the fact that this human had controlled him so effectively was unbearable.

"Yes, the third ingredient." Arkham purred, staring at the girl trapped beneath him. "To seal this tower, Sparda sacrificed a woman, a mortal priestess. It is her blood that I must use to unseal Sparda's power. So I married dear Mary's mother, and she bore for me my daughter. And now, she will fulfill the purpose for which she was born!" He hefted the rocket launcher and brought it down before Dante could fire off a shot, the blade piercing the girl, Mary's, leg.

She gasped at the pain, her blood flowing down across the floor just as the twins had. Arkham chuckled, tossing aside the rocket launcher casually and striding towards the centre of the chamber.

Dad sacrificed a woman? Well, he'd neglected to mention that. Dante growled, and charged forwards, firing off his guns. "I've had just about enough of your oversized mouth!"

But Jester was there, dodging the bullets like they were in slow motion, and Dante suddenly found himself rushing down to meet the floor with a hard crack.

"My, my. Did you forget? You are wounded and weak, even I can take you down!" he cackled. "Don't you see my brilliance? I led you all through this tower, making sure you survived, wearing you down. So that you would be weak enough for me to carry all this out! And also managing to keep Sparda busy so he wouldn't be here to save you!"

"You bastard!" Lady growled, writhing painfully on the stone.

"Its time for bed Mary." Jester grinned down at her, "You can visit your dear mother. Ahahahahahahahhaaaaaaa!"

With a speed uncanny in a mortal she flung herself upwards, grabbing her gun from where the clown had dropped it, aiming directly for his head. "Try me."

From either side a sword lay against the manic harlequin, the twins had evidently recovered. "It's time for the clown to bow out Arkham." Vergil stated frostily.

"Dude… shows over!" Dante followed him.

"Impressive." Arkham nodded, almost in approval. "I expected nothing less from the Devil's descendants. But you forget Vergil, the gateway is opened. What do you think will happen next?" he licked his scarred lips before whispering fanatically, "Let's welcome chaos."

The room began to shake and scarlet shone out between the cracks of the floor. A round column rose up from the floor, containing the amulets and the collected blood.. As the three were momentarily distracted by the shifting ground Arkham struck, moving with improbable flexibility he spun round, knocking each of them flying off the slowly rising platform.

Vergil hit the wall hard, the back of his head cracking against the stone so that he fell unconscious to the floor. Dante and Lady fared little better, but were at least still awake.

"Just sit and wait," Arkham whispered. "Wait for the birth of a new God!" he raised his hands upwards from his rising stage, "I shall take over the power of Sparda!!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

All three conscious members of the beginning group looked as one to the source of the thunderous voice. One which sent fear lacing through their souls, even Dante's. As one they took a step backwards from their various places.

Their eyes settled on the form of the Legendary Dark Knight himself, and Sparda was a sight to behold. The feral look in his eyes, glowing a burning red was terrible to behold, as he stalked forward each step reverberated with hidden power and the true form hidden beneath the mortal mask. "You will never possess my power mortal!" he snarled, glaring up at Arkham. "You will rue the day you ever dared to contemplate such an act! For daring to come near my family!"

Lady gasped, scrambling backwards from this Devil, Sparda! It was really Sparda himself!

Dante gulped as his father's eyes shifted to look at him. He had never seen him so pissed before in his life. Not even the one time Dante had nearly died during a hunt. The glare in those eyes let him know that when this was over he was in trouble for rushing in heedlessly. He couldn't help but sigh in relief as they moved past him.

Sparda could feel his control wilting; the urge to tear and rend this mortal limb from limb grew stronger as each moment passed. To see the girl hurt and betrayed, Dante wounded and obviously in pain. And then Vergil, lying unconscious on the floor. His shadow writhed behind him, growing horns and wings, becoming gigantic before shrinking back to a humanoid form. Repeating the process again and again.

"Sparda…" Arkham looked down at him, hate suddenly evident in his eyes. "You arrived earlier than I'd hoped, but no matter. You are still too late."

"If you think you are safe from me up there-"

"You misunderstand me." Arkham wagged his finger as one would to a wayward child. "Would you leave your children, let dear Vergil die to stop me?" his eyes moved to the spot where Vergil lay, where the ground was cracking and breaking away. "Choose, great Sparda, choose." His mocking voice grew faint as the tower rose.

Sparda stared in horror, the floor was falling apart and plunging into the abyss below. And as he looked it gave way beneath his nestling, and Vergil plunged downwards into the darkness.

Sparda made his choice. "Dante, stay with the girl!" he bellowed, in a tone which left no room for argument. Seeing how Dante leapt forward to grasp her hand tightly as she nearly plummeted he nodded and without a second's hesitation, he jumped down after Vergil.

He refused to lose him again.

----

The drop seemed to last hours, though in reality it probably wasn't even a minute.

Sparda took the time to rein in his fury, knowing that in such a rage he might easily lose his temper with Vergil. While he considered his eldest might be in need of a few harsh words to set him straight he felt that first he had to gain his trust, and yelling tended to hinder such things. 'Tough love' Eva had called it the first time he told her to really hit their children when they misbehaved, as minor taps didn't work on half-devils.

When he landed, catlike on the floor, he'd calmed down marginally. Enough so that he felt he could keep himself together. It was pitch black down here which wouldn't't help matters any. He may have good night vision, but like a felines it needed some light in the first place to reflect and maximise. But the devil was not devoid of other senses.

Rising slowly to his feet from the crouch he'd landed in he sheathed his sword and scented the air. Nothing dangerous, that was good. He picked up a faint whiff of Vergil through the darkness and quietly stepped after it. He kept his ears sharp, listening for the sound of breathing (and really, really praying that Vergil was still performing that function).

For a good two minutes he fumbled blindly about, sometimes tripping slightly over chunks of masonry which had fallen down here but always regaining his balance quickly. Gradually the scent grew stronger and he picked up faint, raspy breaths.

"Vergil," he let his relief seep into his voice. Stepping even more carefully now to avoid tripping over or bumping into his son. That certainly would be a perfect start to this conversation.

He frowned as he received no answer, still unconscious then.

His hand came into contact with a smooth surface and the scent was now so strong he realised he must be almost upon him. Dropping to his knees, uncaring of how undignified it might have looked in the light, Sparda carefully moved forward at a lower level, one hand on the wall and the other reaching. Soon his fingers encountered silk and he knew he had found his quarry.

Carefully Sparda knelt beside his nestling, running his hands expertly over the form to discern what damage there was. It was substantial; the fall had shattered a few bones which were struggling to mend themselves even now. One of his touches conjured a gasp of pain from the prone form and he paused.

"Vergil?" he asked softly.

"… yes." came the tiny reply.

Sparda winced at the pain and small fear there. "Good to see you're awake, hold still, I'm going to use a Vital Star on you." He reached inside his coat and brought the softly glowing green gem out, and felt like hitting himself. Why he didn't't think of using something like that for a light earlier he couldn't fathom. He put it down to worry though.

The eerie green light was enough for him to see Vergil by; the young half-breed was leaning back against the wall with his legs splayed out in front of him. His face was turned away from Sparda, gazing off into the darkness poignantly.

"Don't waste it." Vergil whispered, "Not on me."

"Don't be silly now, Vergil," Sparda said soothingly, pressing it against his child's form and igniting the magic within. Gradually the small star seemingly melted into Vergil's body, sending a rush of healing energy through him, and enabling his own innate healing abilities to be rejuvenated. "There now, you should be right as rain in no time."

"Thank you."

Sparda shook his head sadly at the dejection in that tone, and since the green light from the star was now gone he pulled out a red orb and set it down in front of him. The effect of the red light was somewhat more garish than the green, but it served its purpose.

He settled himself down next to Vergil, back against the wall and watching his son. "Vergil… please look at me."

Slowly Vergil complied, but his eyes remained downcast, refusing to meet Sparda's.

The Devil thought about lifting his head up and making him meet his eyes but settled for ripping his own white cravat off and gently using it to clean up the blood staining Vergil's face. This tender action made Vergil flinch at first, and Sparda wondered how he might have reacted if he'd gone with his first instinct to lick it off (but two thousand years of fitting in with humanity had given him a second instinct to refrain from such things), but he relaxed a moment later. He didn't't fight or try to escape the attention, but neither did he seem to feel good about accepting it.

"Vergil, I'm not mad at you." Sparda spoke a moment later, "Well, perhaps I am a little. But it's alright, I understand why."

"Do you?" Vergil whispered dully, "I wanted to be like you… be as strong as you." he laughed humourlessly. "Instead I got played for a fool by a deranged human and fucked up everything!" Vergil's fists clenched at his sides.

Next to him Sparda watched contemplatively, he could see the truth of Vergil's words just by looking at him. His clothes and the way he wore his hair… it was clear that the boy had tried to imitate him in a lot of ways. It was at once flattering and upsetting. "I… see."

"I'm sorry, father, I must be a terrible disappointment."

"No." Sparda shook his head instantly, "No, I'm very proud of you, Vergil. As much as I am with Dante, maybe more so. You survived on your own, grew up strong and intelligent, a great warrior. I could never be ashamed of you."

"It wasn't enough though was it?" Vergil said bitterly, staring into the glowing orb, "I… wasn't going to awaken the tower, I wanted to talk to you but, that… buffoon stopped me." he took a breath, "Because I was weak, pathetic. You should have gone to stop him, not come after me."

Vergil's eyes widened as a strong hand gently tilted his head up, making him meet his fathers gaze. Sparda was smiling warmly, "Then I am even more proud of you, you chose to do the right thing, no matter what happened after." With his other hand he gently brushed back Vergil's hair from his face. "I would never abandon you Vergil, I lost you once, I refuse to do so again."

"But-"

"No buts." Sparda answered sternly. "You made a mistake Vergil, we all do. I made a horrible one thirteen years ago when I decided to leave my family to fight an unnecessary battle, and I paid for it. If I could take it back... I would do anything to bring back your mother, and for us to never have been separated. But its too late for such things, all we can do is move forward." he said sadly, realising the truth of his own words even as he spoke them. How he had been all these years. "No matter how much we miss someone..." Eva... she would be so mad at him for dwelling like this, she would have probably shot him by now for feeling guilty for so long.

"Father?"

He lifted his head at Vergil's questioning tone, smiling at the concern he saw there. "We have two choices now Vergil, we can stay and dwell on the past or, we can get up, go find Dante and set things right together, as a family. Its not too late to stop him and prevent disaster." He touched Vergil's cheek gently. "Which do you wish to do?"

Vergil gazed at him, a glint entering his eyes. Determination and strength making their home there anew. "Lets go, father."

"That's my boy." Sparda smiled proudly at him, climbing to his feet and watching as Vergil heaved himself up.

He waited until he was certain Vergil was steady on his feet before nodding, "Come then." and he leapt up, a second later Vergil followed.

Together the two Sparda's made their way back to the control room.

----

"Stay away from me, demon!"

"Awww c'mon Lady, my old man told me to watch you. I have to be in the same room to do that, I don't have x-ray vision." Unfortunately, he added mentally.

"Well stay over there then!" She snapped.

Dante groaned and did as he was told, leaning against the one of the shelves in the old library room they'd found to wait in. Not trusting the remaining floor in the control room to stay stable. This girl was getting annoying, no matter how hot she was. He'd been perfectly friendly to her, helping her to this place, bandaging her leg, and then the moment he'd finished she told him to get out and leave her alone. If it wasn't for the fact he feared his dad's punishment then he would have.

A few minutes of uncomfortable silence followed.

"So... you like pizza?"

The look she shot his way gave him the impression she was trying to decide if he was a half-wit or something. "...yes."

"Er... cool." he nodded. Tapping his fingers on his thigh before plunging into what he really wanted to ask, "So, what's the whole deal with you being here anyway? I know what that weirdo said but... ya know, what's your story?"

Lady glared at him.

"Okay, sorry! You don't have to tell me." he held up his hands in resigned surrender.

"That weirdo is my father. Arkham." She started to his surprise, "A year ago, he murdered my mother. I came here to kill him."

"Oh, that sucks."

"Yeah."

Dante whistled lowly before talking himself, "Me and my Dad came here looking for my brother, haven't seen him in years. Thought he was dead actually, and now I found him opening the gate to the demon world, so I don't know what's going on. Guess I'll find out when Dad gets back."

"Is he really Sparda? Your father." She asked.

"Yeah, guess everyone really does know about him." He chuckled, daringly swaggering forward.

"I only thought it a story until today, even if he is a devil, he seems like a pretty good dad. Protective anyway." she said unexpectedly, bitterness in her voice.

Dante blinked, "Yeah, he is. I mean, sometimes we fall out but, he's cool."

"You're lucky then."

He crouched down in front of her and caught her gaze, he figured he could make the offer, "Look, Lady. I'll make you a promise okay? When we go after Arkham, I'll make sure he dies, just for you alright?"

"I can do it myself." She glared at him with her mismatched eyes.

"Hey I'm not saying you can't," he shrugged. "But its going to be dangerous up there, hell portal being opened at all, no offence but... you are human. So let me do it for you, I'll get your vengeance."

She gave him a long look, before sighing reluctantly. "You're right, though I hate to say it." Suddenly he found his view blocked by the black of her missile launcher, "Take this with you, her names Kalina Ann. She'll help, if I can't do it myself I at least want my gun to finish him off."

"Kalina Ann," he grinned, taking it and laying it down to one side. "Thanks babe, that should help a lot."

She growled at being called a babe but nodded, "Promise me you'll make it hurt."

"Like a hole in the head." he smirked, "Literally if I can help it." he placed a hand one side of her head, leaning in close, "Anything for a pretty lady."

"Urgh..." she rolled her eyes and shoved at him, causing him to lose his balance and fall back on his butt.

"Worth a try." he grinned, before laughing. He was pleased to see her lips twitch before she too chuckled in amusement at his ridiculous position, splayed legs and hair messy. She looked like she needed a good laugh so he didn't mind being the fool.

"Dante I believe I asked you to watch the young lady, not to try to accost her." Sparda's voice invaded their little moment dryly.

"I wasn't accosting her." Dante swivelled round on his spot on the floor, grinning nervously at his father. "Just being friendly."

Sparda shook his head in exasperation and walked forward, looking like he intended to talk to Lady himself. Dante rolled out of the way with unnecessary effort, flashing Lady a grin before getting to his feet and walking towards the door, he paused at who he saw waiting there. Vergil leant against the doorway uncertainly, watching them all before he focused his gaze on Dante.

The twins stared uncertainly at each other, "So Verge, you're still alive."

"Seems that way." His elder brother shifted uncomfortably.

"So... still want to kill me?" Dante spread his arms gamely.

Vergil shook his head minutely, "Not right now."

"So when, Verge?"

"Maybe the next time you call me by that ridiculous nickname." he answered dryly.

Dante blinked, then started laughing, "Hahah good one bro!" he chose that moment to see all fences as mended and bounded over to sling his arm around Vergil's neck, yanking him close.

"What one ar- hurk!" Vergil nearly choked under Dante's playful treatment, "I was serious, now release me!" he struggled to free himself, finding his head just about level with Dante's chest.

"Nah... this is properly brotherly behaviour this is!" Dante chuckled, "Remember Verge? Like when we tried to build a tree house and you whacked me with the two by four?" With an evil smile he rubbed his knuckles roughly through Vergil's hair, only managing a few seconds before he was roughly thrown forwards onto his back. Vergil, of course, came down on top of him heavily, knocking the wind out of Dante and forcing him to loose his grip on Vergil's neck. Vergil promptly changed his position to straddling Dante and pinning his arms down.

"Oh yes, I do remember now you come to mention it Dante." He smirked, a malicious grin in his eye. "I remember a lot of things," Dante suddenly shrieked girlishly as Vergil began tickling his sides mercilessly, "Like where you're ticklish, now say you won't call me Verge again!"

"N-never!" Dante spat back between helpless guffaws, trying to bat his twin's hands aside. "You'll... n-never beat me... V-Verge!"

Undaunted by the refusal the elder twin carried on until Dante managed to roll them over, laughter soon coming from Vergil too as their fight degenerated into a small brawl. The outside world and the two others in the room almost ceasing to exist, for a moment it seemed like they were eight years old again, playing in the back yard of their home. It was silly, and they must look like idiots to any observers, but in that moment every tension dissipated and they were simply twins enjoying a friendly bout of rough and tumble together.

It came out a simultaneously decided draw five minutes later, Dante ending up leaning against a bookshelf with Vergil against his chest, his arm looped around his twin's torso in an affectionate manner, nuzzling his hair. Vergil meanwhile had his hand clasped around Dante's forearm, feeling more at peace than he had in years and for once letting his expression show that. "Missed you bro." Dante almost purred.

"I missed you, too." Vergil smiled, giving Dante's arm a squeeze before calmly sitting up.

Dante made a noise of protest until he noticed their father was walking back over, causing him to remember that they still had a job to do. Sparda looked highly amused at their antics and as he reached them he affectionately ruffled both their hair. "Enjoying yourselves?"

Dante growled half-heartedly in resistance at the treatment, while Vergil looked slightly nonplussed at the affectionate action. Dante was sure he'd get annoyed by it in time though, "We were, but I guess it's time to go kill the bad guy now right?"

Sparda nodded, "Correct."

Dante grinned and jumped to his feet, racing over to Lady and hefting the Kalina Ann over his shoulder, "Take care Lady, don't want to come back and find you all over the place."

"I'll be fine jerk; just you make sure to come back. If you don't return my gun I'll come for you." She promised, folding her arms seriously.

"Gotcha, I'd be too scared to run off with this thing." He laughed and turned round to swagger back to his family, _his family._ "See ya Lady!" he gave her a salute with his free hand.

She watched as the three stood together for a moment, the most powerful Devil to walk the earth and his children. Then in a blur of motion they were gone. Off to save the world.

----

Sparda stopped just outside the door to the control room, turning his gaze back to his children. "Dante."

His youngest gave him a look like a deer caught in the headlights, that one word having enough meaning behind it to remind him that he was still in trouble.

"Come here." Sparda said firmly, reaching up to adjust his monocle slightly.

"Er..." Dante shrank back, trying to hide behind Vergil. "No thanks dad, I'm good over here!"

Sparda narrowed his eyes, "Now."

Dane sighed, giving Vergil a pleading look for sympathy and finding only mild amusement instead. "Aww crap." he walked forward slowly, not looking forward to whatever was coming. Scuffing his boots on the floor he stood in front of his father.

"You were told to wait for me if anything should happen or if you should find Vergil." He began.

"Yeah..." Dante mumbled, staring at ground.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes." He said louder.

"You promised me that you would do as I said did you not? Yet you still went ahead recklessly, breaking your word. To the point where you could have made things a good deal worse than they should have been. Where you might have been killed." Sparda growled.

Dante nodded, his shoulders visibly tensing. For good reason.

Sparda grasped his nestling's hair roughly and smashed his head against the wall, "You will not disobey my word again Dante without an extremely good reason. You put yourself in danger," his hand kept the pressure up so Dante was hard pressed against the stone which had actually cracked with the impact. "No matter how good you think you are, you are still my child and until the day you leave my side you will do as I say. Understand?"

"Y-yes!" Dante answered quickly, "I'm sorry dad, really!"

Vergil watched the whole ordeal with a slight wicked glee, the same one either twin would get when the other was in trouble as children, but he also got the message not to cross his father pretty quick. Dante obviously hadn't had it as easy as he'd believed over the years. He could remember that their mother had shot them occasionally as children when they were especially bad, trying to discipline half-devil children with amazing regenerative abilities and a higher than human pain tolerance meant that a smack just didn't cut it.

Sparda's gaze softened as he released his youngest, giving his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "You know how I'd hate to lose you."

"Yeah." Dante rubbed his head gingerly, feeling the cracks inflicted in his skull knitting together with an annoyingly itchy sensation. "Can we go kick bad guy ass now?"

"If you insist." Sparda shook his head, before gesturing at them both to enter the room.

Now here was a problem, how did Sparda intend to get up this thing Vergil wondered? He jumped slightly as he found his fathers gaze on him. "Father?"

"I hope you don't mind being carried Vergil, I assume you can Devil Trigger but I'd prefer for you and Dante to save your energy for now."

Vergil nodded, wondering how exactly... he cut off that thought to watch in amazement as Sparda shed his human form like an old skin.

It was a strange thing to witness, hard to tell where it began and where it ended. But as the twins watched carapace-like armour replaced vulnerable human flesh, wicked claws appeared and cloven hoofs took the place of his feet. Massive curving horns swooped outwards from his face and his eyes glowed a deadly red. Throughout his human clothes seemed to just melt out of existence. The question of how they would get up to Arkham came in the form of multiple pairs of insect wings like those of a beetle. Nothing soft or human was now left in Sparda, at least on the surface. The air seemed to throb with power as the insectoid form walked towards them.

Was this his father's full power now? When they destroyed Arkham and he regained all of it… he couldn't begin to imagine the strength.

A strong hand grasped him firmly by the waist, the razor claws somehow exceedingly gentle and then Vergil found himself sucking in a breath as they soared upwards at fantastic speeds. He was vaguely aware of Dante's excited whoop over the roar of air in his ears but everything else was a blur until they ground to a halt and he was set firmly down on his feet.

Vergil looked around and found Dante grinning at him, "Hell of a rush ain't it?"

"You've done that before?"

"Yeah loads." Dante stated proudly.

"Usually when I had to swoop in and rescue you as I recall." Sparda's voice had grown exponentially deeper, a rough timber entering the usually cultured and refined tones. Evidently he'd decided that changing back to human form was an unnecessary waste of energy.

Dante huffed and Vergil smirked in amusement, he was starting to enjoy himself.

Under Sparda's knowing guidance they quickly fought their way through the remaining defences of the tower. Up to the very top, and together they rose upwards towards the red glowing portal, disappearing in the fierce light.

----

Arkham reveled in the feel of his new power, laughing as his body assumed the shape of the great Sparda, the sword Force Edge absorbed into himself. It was intoxicating, a rush of fiery pleasure and pain as his human weakness was absorbed, like the pain of a birth. Like the pain of God being born.

With this great strength he would know all, conquer all! Including that wretched Sparda and his offspring, he would crush them all and then journey into hell to reap the rewards of his bargain with the dark one.

Speak of the devil and half bloods…

Sparda led the way into the cavern, through ankle deep water, and snarled viciously at what he saw. That human dared to wear his form! Not only that but Sparda could feel his own power inside that frame, it called to him like the sirens of legend. He could feel his body reverberating from it.

He would destroy this human and reclaim his power.

"The great Sparda…" the mockery drawled delightedly, "And his two half-breed whelps."

"Mr Arkham.." Sparda replied in greeting.

Dante snorted at his father's politeness even at this time. "Hey look dad! This guy does impersonations!"

"Poor ones." Vergil quipped from his other side.

Arkham snarled, "You may find it amusing but with this power I will crush you all!" His form started to pulsate, shifting.

"Then let us begin, I will not waste more time on fools like you than necessary." Sparda cocked his heavy horned head to one side, watching as Arkham shifted, becoming some kind of huge… blob. There was really no other word for it.

"Dude! I think I saw this movie, didn't Steve McQueen kill you?"

"I think that blob was better looking." Vergil said conversationally to his twin.

"Heh, yeah. Hey dad, don't ever do that okay? That look would suck on you." Dante grinned at him, hefting Rebellion.

"I don't plan to." Sparda rumbled, flexing his claws and crouching readily.

"Enough you fool's! Its time for you to die!" Arkham roared.

So the fight began.

Sparda wasted no time, attacking head on and slashing any tentacles that came his way apart. He landed heavy hits with incredible speed that had the pulsating mass shrinking back in pain.

Not only that but with a hail of bullets and glowing energy swords his sons made their presence known, launching in a second later with their blades to rip into Arkham's body.

It was then that Arkham began to fear he'd made a huge mistake. He thrust out more tentacles, quickly putting everything he had into destroying them. The twins were weaker, he should try to destroy them first but the moment his concentration shifted the great Sparda was there himself, ripping and tearing huge chunks of him away with a primal strength that was frightening.

If it had been Sparda alone even he should have been able to defeat him, but he couldn't watch and fight all three at once. He was losing…

"No! I will not be defeated!" he pushed himself harder, and for a moment drove them back, but it was only for a moment.

Two spikes of energy caught his attention, the twins had landed together. Identical faces stared at him, identical grins mocking him as their energies rose and twisted them into new forms.

Together rose a blue and a red devil, almost exact copies of their father except for their colouration and a distinct lack of mass. With simultaneous growls they leap forward in blurs of motion and he felt their claws and delicately sharpened fangs slicing into him.

Again and again the family of devils attacked him until he was weakly wavering; horrified by the knowledge he would not withstand another blow. He watched warily for where it would come from, surely it would be the Dark knight who delivered his doom unto him.

But Sparda was calmly backing away, his glistening wings fluttering a little as he moved from Arkham's heaving mass. What was going on? Surely the Dark knight didn't intend to let him live?

No…

He watched as the black armoured Devil lovingly pushed forward his blue covered child, he intended for Vergil to be the one who struck the final blow. The ultimate humiliation for Arkham, to die at the hand of the one he had used for so long.

Arkham gazed, petrified as Vergil growled maliciously at him, and he imagined he could see the sadistic smile of pleasure on the half-devil's face as he charged forward.

The last thing he saw was a blue clawed hand coming at him.

The last thing he heard was the sound of a missile surging through the air.

Both hit him and he was cast into oblivion, feeling the demonic power being stripped from him and the knowledge that his glorious fight had been shockingly short burned into what remained of his consciousness. He fell, and darkness claimed him.

----

Vergil cast a glare to his right as he returned to human form, finding his brother already in his own, holding the smoking Kalina Ann and smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry bro, I did promise Lady I'd kill him with this thing though." He shrugged, "Should never break a promise to a lady." He'd realised his father wanted Vergil to have the pleasure of finishing the bastard off, but hey, wasn't like he'd done it himself. This was Lady's thing, and he'd promised.

"Always thinking with your balls rather than your brains, dear brother?" Vergil retorted with uncharacteristic crudeness.

"Got that right," Dante gave him a lewd wink, causing Vergil to groan in exasperation. "Hey wanna sing 'Ding Dong the Witch's Dead'?"

"Definitely not."

"Awww man, c'mon Verge you kn-" He cut off as his twin held up a hand. Looking downstream solemnly.

Dante turned his head to see what was going on.

It was Sparda, now returned to his human guise, he had waded through the flowing water after Arkham had disappeared and now both of his hands were fully laden. In one lay his famed sword, the sword that had sealed the underworld and defeated Mundus. Force Edge.

In the other rested the two amulets, now separated from each other, their jewels winking in the topaz coloured light of the underworld.

Sparda took a deep breath, his heart was pounding and his blood roaring as his power, his full power settled back inside him. He lifted the blade reverentially, "Hello, old friend." he whispered, feeling the sword thrum warmly in response.

He smiled and turned, walking back to his children. Sheathing Force Edge on his back alongside Shadowreaper, a comforting weight he hadn't felt for two thousand years.

He brought the amulets up and carefully set them back around their respective owners' necks. "Well done my sons. That was a commendable performance."

"Thank you… Father." Vergil replied, taking his amulet in hand and smiling faintly at the blood red jewel.

"Anytime, Pops." Dante followed, holding his amulet tightly. Relieved to have this piece of his mother back.

Sparda nodded before walking slowly to the edge of the waterfall, looking down into the abyss. There lay the underworld, his homeland, place where some of the greatest evil ever known dwelt. Including Mundus…

Mundus who had imprisoned him, who had murdered his beloved wife. He felt a desire growing inside him, wrapping around his heart and speaking its wish into his very bones. But it wasn't just his choice to make now was it? He could not do this without them, yet he knew he must not force them to do it either.

"Father?" Vergil called to him, "The portal's closing now, shouldn't we be heading back?"

He lifted his head to gaze at them, "Dante, Vergil, I have a request of you both."

"What is it, Pops?" Dante asked curiously, both twins walking up to him to hear better above the rush of water.

"There is an opportunity here, I wish to go forth into the underworld to find Mundus and destroy him completely this time. To avenge your mother." He said quietly, gazing at each of them intently. "I cannot do this without you, I will not do this without you. But you must each make the choice to go yourselves, I will not force you into it, so consider carefully what it is you wish to do. There will be other chances."

"I'll go father." Vergil shocked him with the swiftness of his answer. "It was… my desire before I knew you lived."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well, thank you Vergil." before he turned his gaze to his youngest, who he had always expected would be the one to hesitate. Dante was perhaps the one out of all of them who loved the human world most, the one who would lose out the most by leaving it, even temporarily.

"We'll be coming back right? Because Lady said she'd hunt me down if I didn't give her back her gun." he asked after a moment, his brows furrowed together.

Sparda chuckled, "As soon as it is done I promise you. I have no desire to linger there."

"Then I'm in." Dante said seriously, "That prick deserves to die painfully for what he did to Mom."

His father didn't even bother to correct his language, just nodding in agreement. "That he does, and we shall make it so."

Sparda laid a hand on each of their heads, smoothing their hair affectionately. "Then let us not linger any longer, follow me now. And be careful, it's a long drop." he smiled before turning and gracefully leaping down off the cliff.

"Hey Verge, think they have pizza down there?"

"Shut up Dante."

He smiled as he heard his sons' brief exchange from behind him, then the individual whistles of air as each followed his example and leapt from the edge of the precipice.

In all his years, Sparda had never felt more confident of victory, more certain of his purpose.

For his beloved Eva, for the wife and mother, the bloodline of Sparda was going into Hell.

-------------------------------------------------------fin---------------------------------------------------------------------

So how many of you expected this ending? Don't worry though, I promised there'll be an epilogue, you may have to wait until December for it, but there will be one. And possible some side-stories and extras that I have in mind. But I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month which will keep me busy.

A huge thank you to everyone who has been reading this. This is the first multi-chapter story I've completed in years and I hope I didn't disappoint with the ending. Especially to those who might have been expecting some parts that weren't included. 'Jackpot!' for example, but for how I wanted to end the fight it didn't fit. Just imagine how many jackpots will happen whilst they traverse Hell though. :3 I just had to let Nevan live, she's too cool and I really wanted to write interaction between her and Sparda. Besides, who can really picture Sparda with a guitar?

Once again, thanks for all your support and kind words. Remember to look out for the epilogue!


	6. Epilogue

_"To all who still live I leave you with these words, whomever dares to take the place of your former leader shall rule only in this realm. If you ever seek to conquer the human world you shall share his fate, by my blood I swear it. With these conditions I let you live. Now be gone from my sight filth."_

_"Wow dad... that sure was dramatic."_

----

The woman known as Lady nodded her head in thanks to the grocer before scooping her bags into her arms and walking out the shop. The man stared a moment after the odd young woman with the mismatched eyes and with a slight limp in her step before shrugging and turning back to the television he had been watching before. Onscreen the news reporter waved exuberantly as she talked about how the restoration after the earthquake a year and a half ago had successfully rebuilt the destroyed area of the city.

Lady half smiled as she caught the beginnings of the discussion on how the earthquake had begun in an area with no large fault lines. It was still hard to believe how ignorant some people could be, how willingly they would blind themselves to what lurked in the deepest shadows of the world.

She'd come to accept though, as the dust of the towers demise still settled in the streets, that it was simply human nature to ignore what it didn't want to see. But she'd had her on issues to deal with at the time.

In the aftermath of killing her father and succeeding in her revenge she'd been faced with the prospect of a life without a purpose, no direction to follow. All the things she'd dreamed of before her mother's murder were meaningless, rejoining the world of her school friends and going to college had seemed dull in comparison to all she had accomplished in the tower. She'd dismissed the possibility almost as soon as she had thought it.

There was only one thing she had to look forward to, and that was the promise the son of Sparda had given her, to return her Kalina Ann. The fact that he hadn't reappeared after the collapse of Temen-Ni-Gru was a little worrying, for all she knew he was dead and the Kalina Ann buried beneath rubble with his corpse.

It was a reason though, a reason to remain in the world of a demon hunter and she grasped at it, wrapped her greedy fingers around it and hung on tight.

With her inheritance from her mother and her father (she wasn't too proud to leave the money in his bank accounts) she had set up a small shop on the edge of town and let out the word that she was open for business. It wasn't hard to find work at first with all the demons that had escaped whilst the portal had been opened but as time had gone on she'd found herself called more to track down lost pets than destroy a rogue Hell Pride. She really needed to bring in some sort of screening process for her calls.

Lady made her way through the labyrinth of streets to her place, it was nothing special. There wasn't even a sign, but she did her best. Juggling the bags into one arm she unlocked the door and shoved it open roughly before stepping through, and then she went still. Something was different, it was hard to tell with no light on but she knew she wasn't alone.

As quickly as possible she set the bags down and reached into the back of her jeans, pulling out the small handgun hidden by the length of her jacket. With her other hand she slapped on the light switch and set her sights on-

"Hey, you really need to get some beer in here, your fridge is practically empty too."

She recognised that irritatingly cocky voice instantly, not that she needed to with the speaker sat right in front of her on top of her cherished oak desk. "Get off of there." she barked for lack of any intelligent retort, motioning with her gun at the same time.

"Whoa babe." Dante grinned, holding up his hands, red leather and all. He jumped off the desk, taking a bite out of the cheese in his hand, the only item probably still in date in her fridge. "No need for the violence."

She frowned but let her hand fall, tucking the gun away again. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Hell." he said cheerfully.

She blanked for a moment, before shaking her head. "Whatever, where's my gun jackass?"

"Relax," he leaned over her desk, knocking pens and paperweights flying as he did, "Got her right here." He lifted up Kalina Ann triumphantly in one hand.

Lady stalked over and snatched it, immediately examining her for any signs of damage or abuse.

"You're welcome." the half-devil scratched the back of his head in amusement. "So I see you're doing well for yourself."

"Well enough." she muttered, running her hand carefully over the blade at the end of the launcher, a little dull but that was easily remedied. "Someone's got to clean up after you and your relatives."

He cocked his head, trying to figure out how much of an insult was implied there before shrugging it off. "I'm glad anyway, though I'm afraid we might have made business a little dry for you for some time."

"So that's your fault is it?" she set Kalina Ann down and leant against the desk beside him, crossing her arms.

"Yup, we sort of killed the head honcho, the Godfather, Dr Evil... whatever you want to call him." Dante looked rather smug as he said it, performing the odd little pinkie finger gesture associated with that last character.

She blinked, processing that information, "...Mundus?!" she'd learned the name going through Arkham's books.

"Got it in one."

"Holy shit." she managed finally. "So you really did go to hell."

"Yeah, it sucks down there, no room service." he joked.

"I'll cancel my vacation then." she gave him a small smile. "So what happened? I mean, that can't be it can it? The demons will still be coming here."

"My dad decided after we defeated Arkham, Mundus is the guy who murdered my mom so I was all up for killing him, so was Vergil." he told her, cramming the last of the little block of cheese into his mouth. "We went down and did the business, took a while despite the weird way time runs down there, only seems a few weeks since I left." he licked his lips, "But we took him down and dad gave them a warning not to try invading the human world again or we'd kick their asses more than we usually do."

She nodded, "I guess that would work, if you took down Mundus there can't be many who'd risk coming here."

"Just the little idiot rogues acting on their own. Gotta be some way for people like you to make some cash." he chuckled before standing up straight, "Guess I'd better get going then."

"Alrea-" she cut herself off before she had to acknowledge that she wanted him to stay, "I mean, alright then."

He smirked at her, "Just wanted to return your gun -she was a huge help by the way- and make sure you're doing okay that's all." he cocked his head, leaning in, "Unless..."

"Drop dead."

"Sorry no can do, I haven't been to Disneyland yet." he said, looking apologetic, kind of like a puppy.

"I thought you'd gone to hell already," she quipped.

He blinked owlishly at her before throwing back his head and laughing, "Give the girl a prize! She made a funny!"

"I'm full of surprises. Now get the hell out of my shop." she smiled, for real this time.

"Got it, see you soon babe!" he waved as he backed out, "Call me if you need me! And pick a name for this place, it looks stupid with no sign!"

She shook her head as he disappeared out of the door, get in touch. She snorted, he hadn't even- she cancelled that thought as she laid eyes on the scrap of paper with a number scribbled on it. Guess he must not be that much of an idiot after all, she thought with a sense of relief that didn't seem to be entirely from the return of her rocket launcher.

The little stick figure next to the number wielding a huge sword did seem a bit much though.

----

"Could you have taken any longer about this?" Vergil said in perfect monotone from his perch at the edge of the roof as Dante came up to join him.

"Awww, what's the matter bro?" Dante grinned, leaning in uncomfortably close to Vergil's face, "Jealous?"

He wobbled on the edge as Vergil shoved him roughly, "Hardly." the elder twin looked away to where Sparda stood, his hands neatly folded behind his back as the moonlight cast his shadow on the roof.

The older devil cast his gaze over his shoulder, "Must you two bicker every second of the day?"

"Probably." Dante filled in before Vergil could say anything, earning himself a light punch in the arm.

"If only Dante didn't insist on acting like such a buffoon then there would be no need father." Vergil spoke, "But as he does someone needs to shut him up before his brain starts dribbling out of his ears."

Sparda chuckled, "I never realised, how brave of you to take on the task."

Vergil smirked as Dante pulled a face, "Just my duty as older brother."

"Yeah well, big brothers shouldn't give the younger ones images of their brain running out their ears." The red clad twin pointed out. "You suck at this job."

"Really I thought older siblings were meant to make the younger ones life a misery?"

"You really suck Verge."

"Enough." Sparda held up a hand to quiet them before he could get another headache. Twins, what had he and Eva been thinking?

He wouldn't trade them for the world though, he'd never been so proud. They'd followed him through hell, their blades had swung beside his and dispatched Mundus' head from his shoulders, shattered him into a thousand pieces. He remembered the elation and feeling of justice that had settled in his heart as he stood in his hated enemy's remains, listening to Dante's triumphant whoops and seeing the expression of quiet pleasure on Vergil's face. In his hand Force Edge trembled with the force of the amulets that had been combined with the blade and he'd sworn he'd felt his wife's strong presence beside him.

They had returned to the human world after Sparda delivered his final threat to the underworld and found the Priestess' descendant so Dante could fulfil his promise. He hadn't quite approved of Dante's sneaking in to surprise her, but he hadn't heard a shot so he surmised it must have gone well enough.

"So," he turned to face them both fully, "I believe its time to go home."

Vergil perked up slightly, "Home? Where is that?"

Sparda smiled, "Where ever you like, we have a number of houses."

"Disneyland!" Dante voiced enthusiastically, before taking a step back as both his twin and sire gave him a glare. "Fine, no one gets a good joke in this family."

"I'll go to Paris but I am not putting one foot in a place that has a giant mouse as a mascot." Vergil grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Paris then." Sparda nodded; from his expression he could see Vergil hadn't expected him to actually pick up on the idea.

"I meant Florida." Dante grumbled. Spring break, hot girls in bikinis...

Vergil smirked in triumph, "Too bad. Next time remember to be specific. Besides it's not that spring and Disneyland is in California." He picked up on his twins errant lust filled thought.

"Can we go to Florida next spring?" The younger twin asked after a second of absorbing this.

"Do that in your own time Dante." Sparda gave him a small sympathetic smile, "Now let's just go see about getting to Paris."

"Yes sir!" Dante snapped to a salute, feeling quite pleased about the decision nonetheless. It didn't really matter, Vergil probably deserved to get his way just this once, and he was happy to have his twin back in the long run.

"Just one thing first." Sparda wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword.

Dante smirked and casually fired a shot over his shoulder, a roar of pain following the bang.

Vergil casually pulled Yamato loose of its sheath and exchanged a look with his twin.

"Jackpot." They said as one, turning and laying into the small group of demons.

Sparda let his grip fall from Force Edge, instead taking pleasure in watching his sons fight, listening to their combined whoops of elation.

From inside Force Edge there was a warm burn of approval and love. "I agree heartily my lady." He whispered.

It was good to be back.

---The End---

At least for now, I intend to write some side stories at least I already have a few good ideas, mainly during their time in hell. XD Hope you all enjoyed this and the ending was fitting. Thanks for reading!


	7. Side Story 1: Starting to cope

Sparda fumbled wearily with the key to the door, struggling to unlock it so he could hopefully collapse on the bed within. Ever since he'd secured the money needed all he'd thought of was finding his way to a soft bed and long sleep.

Finally he managed to coerce the door into opening for him, shoving it open and stepping quickly though. Almost immediately shutting it behind him afterwards.

The reason for his difficulty in the simple task of opening a door was suddenly obvious as he shifted his other arm, glancing down to check the sleeping face of a silver haired child in his hold, partially covered by a large jacket to warm him. Sparda dropped the keys down upon a dresser and gently touched his fingers to his sons face, stroking the soft cheek. In response he was given a soft sigh, but nothing more.

Content that Dante was for now at peace he walked over to the large double bed in this single room and laid him down upon it, watching carefully to see that he settled into the cotton covers before he moved away. The tall devil ran a hand through his dirty silver hair, wondering if he could muster the energy to shower before curling up beside his nestling. He didn't think he could, but then again...

Years worth of blood was dried on his skin, hidden carefully beneath a glamour to human eyes but still there to his sensitive nose. Contrary to popular belief devils didn't enjoy coating themselves with blood and gore for the fun of it, they quite preferred to be clean except for when they were actually engaged in the act of hunting, barring the lower races of course.

He gave into the desire to be clean, casting one last look his son's way before walking through the door to the adjoining bathroom.

The hot water felt sinfully good against his skin, burning away at the evidence of his pain. Like a merciful balm to every wound he'd suffered, how he'd missed this delightful human invention. He swiftly made use of almost the entire bottles of complimentary shampoo and soap, only catching himself at the last moment when he considered that his son was covered in soot and blood himself.

He wasn't sure how long he stood inside the small cubicle, ten minutes, an hour. He knew at one point he hit the tiles pretty hard, leaving a long crack as he chocked back a howl of pain. Eventually though he emerged, drying himself with a towel languidly.

He reluctantly pulled on his soiled trousers once more and stepped out through the door. Swift panic flooded through him for a moment when he saw Dante was no longer on the bed.

The trailing end of the sheets was what calmed him before he could act foolishly, the white material trailed across the floor to the shadowy depression beneath the window. He saw the reflected light in blue eyes and sighed in relief.

"Dante." He said soothingly, coming to crouch down before the child wrapped in white. "Come away now, it's safe."

"You weren't here." The first words he'd heard from Dante in years.

"I know, I'm sorry." He nodded, "I went to wash, I was horribly dirty you see."

Dante's large eyes blinked at him from beneath the blanket. "You weren't there earlier either."

"No…" he breathed out, "I wasn't, I'm sorry for that too."

A sniff and the cloth fell to completely cover Dante's face, "Mommy... she's really gone isn't she?"

Sparda hung his head, "I'm afraid so."

"And you're my dad?"

"That's right." he placed a hand gently on Dante's head, rubbing through the cloth like one would to a cat, a gesture the twins had loved when they were very young. He at least didn't recoil.

"Where's Vergil?"

"I don't know." he answered truthfully.

"You mean he's dead!" Dante spat out and scampered under the bed as fast as his arms and legs could take him. Sparda let him go, following a moment later to sit cross-legged before the dark space.

The Devil leaned forward to peer into the shadows, for a moment he contemplated lying, but it wasn't in his nature to do so. He also knew Dante wouldn't believe him, he didn't want to give his child a reason to distrust him. "Its... very likely Dante." he heard the resulting whimper. "You're not alone though, I'll protect you now." he reached a hand under the bed. "You're safe."

He heard shuffling, but Dante wasn't coming out. He smiled sadly, "Alright, we'll stay under here then if you like." Dignity didn't matter when it came to your young, so the tall devil squeezed himself under the bed, no easy task. Wide blue eyes greeted him as he settled down, he could tell Dante hadn't expected him to anything of the sort. "Cosy under here isn't it?"

"Not really. You're a lot bigger than me too." The forthright answer almost made him laugh.

"True, but I can manage." Sparda pillowed his head on one arm, "Mind if I share some of that blanket?"

Dante hesitated, but then unwrapped himself and tossed some of it his father's way.

"Thank you." Sparda pulled it over his side.

Quiet reigned between them for some time, Dante curled into a ball and making a show of squeezing his eyes shut. Sparda made himself stay awake, he wouldn't sleep until Dante did. It took a while, but eventually he heard the boys breath become deeper and slower, his face smoothing into a more peaceful expresson. He reached over and stroked Dante's hair before tucking the blanket tighter around him.

Finally Sparda allowed himself to close his eyes, giving up the fight against the tide of exhaustion. Tomorrow would soon be here.

* * *

Woe to the angst XD Just a little after fic to the first part. I should do something happier for the next one. 


End file.
